Secluded Flame
by water mixed flame
Summary: It all started off with a coincidental meeting. Minako quickly meet Rei and then Usagi and the others. Only problem, is that unlike Minako, the other senshi and Rei do not know that Rei is Sailor Mars. I'm kind of bad at summaries
1. Chapter 1

Secluded Flame

Disclaimer: I own nothing of Sailor Moon.

Disclaimer: I own nothing of Sailor Moon.

A/N: This is my first fanfic, so please go a bit easy on me. I kind of mixed the anime with the PGSM. Hope you enjoy!

Chapter 1

The day was fervent, the once bright sky now dulled by the clouds drifting lazily, weightlessly through the air. A girl, about 14 years old with long raven colored hair, a pale complexion, and fierce amethyst eyes walked down the sidewalk, then turned to enter an area where a church stood. When she turned the corner to enter through the rusty green gateway, she accidentally bumped into the priest, causing him to collapse.

"Sorry!" She exclaimed, holding out her hand to help the priest up, "I wasn't looking where I was going. Sorry."

The girl looked down, avoiding the priest's gaze.

"It's okay Rei, you didn't do anything wrong. As it is, I wasn't looking where I was going either."

The priest smiled kindly, and looked at what Rei was carrying.

"Oh, so you're here to visit your mother's grave? It's the anniversary of her death, right?"

At the mention of her mother's death, Rei's expression darkens, her grip on the flowers tightening greatly. Rei hid her ever darkening amethyst eyes behind a curtain of raven hair as she answered the priest in a hushed whisper, "Yes sir it's …… her anniversary."

"I'm sorry," he said in earnest, seeing her reaction, "then by all means, I'll leave you to yourself."

The priest put a hand on her semi- broad shoulder and smiled warmly. Then, turning away he said solemnly, "You know, it would have been nice if your father was here as well. I'm sure your mother would have been happier to see the two of you together."

Rei's head shot up in surprise and glared at the retreating form of the priest, a mixture of emotions burning in her heart and stomach.

"That bastard could care less about my mother's death! He's just a crooked politician, who cares only about himself; which is why he abandoned me on the streets with no where to go when I was just a little kid!"

Rage and hatred were evident in her voice as she shouted at the priest. Her amethyst eyes glinted dangerously, and narrowed into slits as he tuned his head to look at her with a sorrowful expression engraved in his old features.

As he spoke, Rei's anger was extinguished "Alright Rei, alright."

Rei hung her head as the priest turned and left her alone. Once he was out of sight she walked around to the side of the church to where a graveyard was built, honoring the memories of the dead. She looked out over all the tombstones embedded in the earth, neatly mowed emerald grass that danced in the wind and glistened in the sun surrounding all of them.

She stepped onto the soft emerald grass and strolled down the row of graves until she came upon her mother's resting place. Kneeling onto the supple grass,

Rei placed a bouquet of roses in front of the polished, stone tombstone and let an uncharacteristic warm tear escape her eyes; traveling quickly down her cold cheek as she began to pray.

…....

"Aino Minako! Just where do you think you're going?"

"Geez, settle down Artemis, breathe. I'm just going to the church nearby to clear my head and think that's all. You don't have to get a heart attack about it." Minako casually threw over her shoulder.

She picked up a large brown cap and placed on top of her head where her long golden locks cascaded brilliantly down her back, and put a pair of ridiculously large white sunglasses atop her nose to conceal her lively cerulean eyes.

"But-," the small fuzzy, snow white cat replied; worry swimming deeply in his dark blue eyes.

"No buts Artemis, I'll be fine. It's not like any youma will show up."

Minako strolled over to her guardian cat, which was sitting on top of the side table, and stroked his silky fur gently, giving him a warm reassuring grin.

"Ok," he purred reluctantly, "but I'm coming with you just in case something does happen."

His charge just nodded and giggled as she caressed his chin, causing him to lean forward too much and fall off the maple wood table landing on his butt. She then turned on heel and jogged out of her apartment door, yelling back: "And here I thought that all cats landed on their feet! You're getting too lazy Artemis!"

"MINAKO!!" Artemis hissed, "Get your but back here!!"

And just like that he shot to his paws, tailing the giggling pop star out the room.

....…………….….

"So this is the church," Artemis commented.

The church was a great white building with a small flight of stone gray stairs leading to two antique wooden doors with beautiful carvings in them.

"Yes," Minako smiled, "I've heard that they have a graveyard to the side of this church that I'm going to visit later; after I've done clearing my head. You want to come along Artie? I'm sure there are no ghosts haunting the place or anything."

Minako smirked as Artemis' fur bristle in slight fear. She knew that Artemis was afraid of ghosts and such, and yet he continued to watch scary movies with her to only boast about being there to protect her if she ever got scared, only to have it be the other way around.

"Um, well, uh….. maybe another time, Minako. I have an important….um…. nap to take. So, um, well see you later!"

And with that, he leapt off the pavement and onto the supple, bright, emerald grass sprinting to who knows where to take his cat nap.

"Bye scaredy cat! I'll see you later then!"

"I resent that!" She heard Artemis yell back as she trotted up the stairs and entered the beautiful, spiritual chapel.

When inside, she walked to the front of the church and knelt on the cushioned kneeler in the wooden pew staring off into the majestic stained glass cross.

…..….….…..…

Saying her goodbyes and wishes to her mother, Rei stood up to dust the strands of grass that have managed to cling to her blue jeans, she bowed, turning and reluctantly leaving to go back to the shrine. While walking out of the grave site, she passed a girl with long, golden blonde hair swaying in the brisk breeze heading towards the graveyard she just left, but was stopped by the priest.

"Oh, excuse me miss. I'm sorry to interrupt you, but may you spare some of your time to help me? You see a nun and I just found this dog lying weakly by the back of the church and we need someone to look after him for a while until after mass. If you can't, it's okay I'll understand, and I'll find someone else to look after him."

Rei stopped in her tracks and turned around to watch the exchange between the stranger and the priest.

"Sure, I'll be honored to help look after the poor doggy; just lead the way," the blonde responded cheerfully.

Before the blonde and the priest could walk away, Rei hollered, "Wait! Father! Is it alright if I help too?"

The priest and the blonde turned around a bit surprised; the blonde more surprised then the priest to see Rei jog towards them; stopping to look the priest shyly in his dark eyes knowing eyes.

"And, by the way I'm sorry about earlier Father. I just-," Rei started to whisper quietly in embarrassment; recalling what had happened between them earlier that day.

The priest put his slightly wrinkled hand on her small, broad shoulder having her look up at him and nodded, letting her know all was forgiven. Rei beamed while the blonde next to them watched the exchange between the two in silent confusion, but then shrugged slightly not wanting to interrupt them.

"Yes Rei, you may help too. Now, would you two young ladies please follow me? We put the poor thing in a small room right at the end of the church."

The three of them walked along the paved path that lay stretched out along the side of the graveyard. Stopping at the end of the side of the church, the priest opened the polished wooden door and led Rei and Minako inside and to the dog. The dog, which was a large male chocolate brown hound dog, lay on a fuzzy, multicolored, circular rug with a hefty white blanket covering his entire body except his head and neck.

"Awwwwww," Minako whined excitedly, kneeling down besides the dog and began to gently stroke his silky fur, "Will he be alright? I mean it's not life threatening is it?"

The priest began to laugh heartily while Rei just stared at the blonde strangely as if she came from some other planet.

"Ah, miss, I can assure you he is not in a life or death situation. The dog is just in need of a good rest and maybe some food later on. I'm counting on both of you and thank you both for your time."

The priest bowed and said, "I have some things I must attend to, so if either of you need any help I'm sure a nun will be around to help you."

He then turned and strolled through the door leaving both Rei and Minako in the slightly messy, but homey room. Sighing, Rei knelt besides Minako and the dog, compassion lighting her usually dark amethyst eyes and letting a rare, warm smile grace her elegant features. Unbeknownst to her as she began running her thin fingers through the dog's smooth, chocolate brown fur, Minako was gazing at her intently.

A/N: I hope to update this story soon, but I can get kind of swamped with homework and studying since midterms are soon. So, later!


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I own nothing of Sailor Moon. Nothing, nada, not even my favorite cooky.

A/N: It's me again, and I'd like to say that the story may be a little slow, but it will get there! I promise, lest my chocolate chip cookies go past there expiration date and become stale!!!! Anyway, here is chapter two.

Chapter 2

_'I can't believe it'_, Minako thought to herself in a daze, '_I can't believe that Mars is here.'_

Looking down towards the dog that was resting peacefully on the comfortable rug under hers and Rei's care_, 'I never thought that I would see her so soon, if at all. Heh, it's kind of funny how the thoughts of one person would hurt me so much…..'_

A sorrowful expression crossed her angelic face as she let her thoughts wander. That is, until they were interrupted by a familiar voice that both comforted her through the hardest of times and yet haunted her at nearly every waking moment. Shaking her head in realization that the unlike other times, the voice was definitely real as Rei had just said something to her.

Blushing a bright red, Minako said the only intelligent thing that crossed her mind at the moment, "Eh?"

Rei sighed in disbelief, watching with slight amusement as the blonde next to her started twirling her silky, golden hair around her finger nervously, her face as red as a ripe tomato.

"Gee, are all you blondes like that or something? I just asked if we ever met before because you look very familiar that's all." Rei repeated, looking at Minako as though she were some kind of alien.

Hope rose in Minako's chest at the thought that some way, somehow, Rei was actually remembering something. But all good things, including thoughts must come to an end at some point time as Rei made another off handed comment under her breath, but loud enough for Minako to hear without knowing it.

"Man, she must be deaf or something, that's the second time I asked her something. 'Sigh' Sign language would be helpful right now. Heh, but since she's a blonde, she probably won't know what I'm trying to say to her."

Minako stopped petting the dog's soft fur and swirled around to give Rei a hard glare whispering in vehemence, "And what is that supposed to mean you emo wannabe? Huh?"

"Wha- What?!" Rei asked in surprise as she fell back to the wooden floor, quivering in fear at the murderous intent shining in the blonde's sapphire eyes_. 'Oh crap, she must have heard what I said, and by the look in her eyes, I'm soooooo toast, dead, whatever. Great job Hino, you'll definitely get the 'biggest ass of the year trophy' you've always wanted.'_

Minako never let up her glare as she crossed her arms over her chest, leaning towards the raven haired miko threatningly. "Well, come on, I can't wait forever you know, say something. Or is it that you can't speak." Minako smirked as she watched a fierce blush cover Rei's cheeks. _'Ha! I win! That's what you get when you mess with Aino Minako baby!'_

A few tense moments passed between the two as they ended up in a sudden staring contest, neither of them wanting to lose. Sighing, Rei decided to break the ice and speak at her own risk.

"Hey, listen," Rei started, sitting up slowly and rubbing the back of her head sheepishly, "I'm sorry about what I've said, alright?"

Taking her eyes away from Minako's provoking ones and dropping her head in a silent defeat, she continued, "I know what I've said to you has offended you…." _ 'Damn right it has'_ Minako huffed in thought. "But, today has never been a good day for me, and I seem to always let my temper get in the way. So, I'm sorry, really. Please forgive me."

Minako was taken aback when the Rei shifted to sit on her knees and bowed to her. Shaking herself out of her surprise, Minako chuckled and shook her head lightly causing Rei to look up at her with curiosity. With a warmth that not only shone in her smile and beautiful eyes, but voice as well when she spoke, Minako said softly, "Don't worry about it. After all, I was rude too, just so you know. Now, what did you want to know, after all I did kind of forget when we were arguing."

With that, Minako watched Rei intently as the other sat up straight in a crossed legged position, and went back to petting the slumbering dog.

"Well, like I asked before, I just wanted to know if we met before because you seem familiar. That's all." Rei looked Minako in the eyes waiting for an answer.

Sighing, Minako let her head drop a little and began petting the dog as well, the sorrowful expression adorning her face again. _'There's no way that Rei remembers me, no matter how much she and her past self seems to act alike.'_ She felt Rei's worried and confused gaze penetrating her as she waited patiently for an answer, but her mind started to wander again of its own accord again.

"Hey, are you alright? Did I say something stupid again or something?" Rei asked gently, laying her right hand softly on Minako's small, yet firm shoulder.

Blushing a little when the small touch brought her back to her current position, she forced a smile and light chuckle. "No, you haven't said anything stupid. And to answer your question, no we haven't met before, you just remind me of someone I used to know."

"Hmmmm, then that person must be quite an ass then, if I remind you of them." Rei said, looking deep in thought. She removed her hand from Minako's shoulder (which the blonde missed greatly) and placed it under her chin before nodding her head in agreement to her conclusion.

Minako laughed a real laugh causing Rei to look back at her and smile warmly. Wagging her finger in front of Rei, Minako said amusedly, "Nice deduction detective, but that person was my friend, and she wasn't _**that **_much of an ass. Rude, yes, but a complete ass, no. In fact, she was very kind, at times."

"You know, the key words in that are '_**at times'**_," Rei laughed, putting emphasis on _at times_, "So, she still must be a jerk, blondie."

Minako raised her eyebrows at that, and crossed her arms over her chest once again. "When did we agree to **you** calling **me** blondie, pyro?"

Rei snickered, also crossing her arms over her chest, "What, I can't call you blondie? Cmon, it's only right and fair since you called me pyro. Which, I will proudly say that I'm not infatuated in any way to fire."

"Wow, what a mighty big word to use. I didn't know you could use such a word, what does it mean?"

Rei huffed and responded, "I consider that offensive, I might just sue you for heating my feelings," she pouted (cutely in Minako's mind), "And since you asked blondie, one of its meanings is to be obsessed with something. Oh, and you can trust me if I was an infatuated pyro, you would see me on the news of burning down a few buildings her and there."

Minako laughed whole heartedly thinking_, 'Man, I can't remember the last time I've laughed this much. This is the happiest I've been in a long time.' _Then she smirked deviously,"I don't think you would win if you sue me for something such as calling you a pyro. So remember, think before you speak."

Rei rolled her eyes, but smiled all the same, "Yeah, whatever, like I'd take advice from a blonde."

Minako nodded and said wisely, "That's right you should listen to the beautiful blonde, because this beautiful blonde is not only_**very**_ smart, but _**very**_ wise too, wiser than her years, and wiser" she leaned forward towards Rei, " than," she brought up a hand, " _**you**_." Minako poked a tomato faced Rei on the nose lightly.

"Awwwww, is the widdle pyro embarrassed? Yes you are, yes you are!"

Rei coughed in her fist and turned her head to save what little dignity she had left at the moment, muttering under her breath, "Shut up."

Laughing, Minako dug in her in her big, tan jacket's pocket and pulled out two pieces of strawberry candy and handed one to Rei. Rei took it reluctantly and stared at it with curiosity, looking from the small candy, back to Minako and then to the candy again, eyeing both with suspicion. She watched Minako like a hawk as the blonde quickly unwrapped the candy from its red, translucent wrapper, and popped the pink candy into her mouth.

Minako sighed in content, closing her eyes in enjoyment. Opening her eyes, she saw Rei still eyeing her suspiciously, her candy still wrapped.

"Don't tell me that you actually think that I would poison you? What kind of person do you think I am? Honestly?"

"Well, if you want me to be honest, then. I think you're a very weird person, and it's not like I think you're going to poison me….. yet…. I just don't like candy, it rots your teeth."

"Well thanks doc, I'll remember that for the rest of my life. I promise!" the idol said sarcastically, "But you know pyro, you're really missing out on some good stuff. It might even be the reason why you can act so pessimistic and dull."

"Wow thanks."

"No problem just doing my job!" the idol chirped, "Just promise me one thing pyro."

"What?"

Taking off her sunglasses and putting on her best puppy dog eyes and pout, Minako begged sweetly, "Please eat this one piece of candy for me. Pleeeaaassee!!!"

The miko was taken aback big time, her right eyebrow twitching and hands crossed in front of her in an x shape in a sad attempt to withstand the puppy dog eyes_. 'Damn, she's good. She must have worked hard to achieve the perfect combination of the pout and puppy dog eyes'_ she tried looking away, but the blonde just started to whine sadly. _'I. Can't. Resist. Anymore.'_

"Aaaarrrggghhh!!!!! Alright, you win! I'll try your stupid piece of candy, just please stop it with the puppy dog eyes!!" With that, Rei unwrapped her candy furiously, closing her eyes tightly when she placed it her mouth as if waiting for something bad to happen.

Minako leaned forward in anticipation, her sapphire eyes shining brighter than they have before and getting wider by the second, she waited for Rei's response as if were the most important thing in the world.

Rei's face relaxed and smiled as the delicate, yet delicious taste of strawberries flooded her senses. The miko could barely hear what the blonde asked her in a whisper as she was lost in the nice sensation. "So, how is it? Do you like it?" Opening her left eye, she responded with a smirk, "What do you think?"

Minako returned the smirk equally, and said, "Well it looks to me like you're enjoying it. You know what that means, right?"

"No…. What?"

Rei looked at the idol skeptically, not liking the gleam in her eyes.

"Simple, pyro, that means that victory, is mine!! So there, nyah!"

Rei rolled her eyes and sighed at the blonde's childish behavior when she stuck her tongue out.

"You're such a little weirdo, you know that?"

"Hey, who do you think you're calling a weirdo, weirdo? Do you even know who I am?" the idol huffed, glaring at the miko.

"Well, no, I don't. Why should I know your name when we haven't introduced? And who do you think you're calling a weirdo?" Rei huffed indignantly, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Well for your information, I am** the **Aino Minako, so show some respect!"

"Nice to know, and my name is Hino Rei, you little-"

Rei's voice caught in her throat when what the blonde idol told her finally processed in her mind. _'__**No way**__. She's __**the**__ Aino Minako? Oh crap, and here I was being rude to her the whole entire time. I really should apologize now before I dig my grave even further.'_ Rei was going to apologize, but the only thing that came out her mouth was, "Oh crap."

A/N: Sorry, but this chapter was a bit rushed. Anyway, hoped you all liked it, the next chapter should be up soon. Maybe.


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I do not own Sailor Moon**.

A/N: Here's chapter 3! I would have updated sooner, but my computer is kind of wacked right now. Anyway, enjoy.

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Chapter 3

"Oh crap?" Minako looked at Rei with amusement dancing in her bright, sapphire eyes. "Is that the only thing that you have to say to me?"

Rei shook herself out of her shocked daze and retorted, "Well duh! How the heck did you think I was going to answer!?"

Minako pouted, crossing her arms over her chest saying, "I have a few ideas…."

"Yeah, well good for you, because I'm sure I don't want to hear them." Rei sighed, closing her violet eyes tightly and pinching the bridge of her nose as if she had a headache. Rei began taking deep breaths to calm herself when she heard shuffling followed by the feeling of something beginning to jab her in the side and then the stomach persistently.

"Meanie….." she heard the blonde haired nymph grumble as though she were a little four year old. "You're such a party pooper pyro. And anyway I was hoping for some fainting because you're secretly a major fan of mine, or maybe some squealing and the occasional begging for an autograph and an overzealous 'I love you Aino Minako!', but not an 'oh crap'."

Rei sighed, "Yeah, well. I'm different from those rabid 'groupy' fans of yours so deal with it." She opened her mystifying violet eyes, "Aaaaahhh!!!!" she squeaked when she saw what looked like a stuffed unicorn in a fluffy, purple sweater inches away from her face. Rei blinked a few times then fell backwards onto her back, and crawled quickly away from Minako and what she recognizes as Minako's little devious minion, her mascot. Pointing a shaking, accusatory finger at the idol, who just looked at her in confusion and putting on quite a good innocent act she rasped out, "What the heck are you trying to do, kill me with the thing that's name shall never be spoken!!?"

This caught Minako off guard completely stunning her and shutting down the blonde's thought process. "The thing that's name shall never be spoken?" Minako blinked and pointed at the stuffed replica of her famous and beloved mascot. She watched as Rei shook her head in such a way that it looked like it could fly off in any minute in confirmation, then smiled wickedly as an idea hatched in her head. This was the first time someone reacted in such a way to her mascot, and even though it was a very childish reaction, she thought it was cute.

"Awwww," the idol began to coo, "But Rei- Rei," at this Rei's thin eyebrow began to twitch in warning, "Mr."

"Shut it blondie!! Don't you dare say that vile thing's name!"

Minako giggled and grinned widely, and began crawling towards the shaking Rei, the evil 'thing' in her hand, shaking it at Rei. '_I've got her now!_' Minako thought with delight giggling like a delighted school girl.

"Don't be like that my big, strong, pyro. Mr. snuggles here," she said gesturing to her stuffed mascot, "just wants to be your friend and give you a great big hug!!"

Rei's amethyst eyes widened in utter horror and looked between Minako and the stuffed unicorn. "Oh _hell _no! Get that flea housing thing away from me!" she yelled, backing away from the slowly advancing idol and into the wall with large stacks of cardboard boxes on either side of her. 'Oh crap there's nowhere to go!" she thought frantically while looking from side to side searching for an escape.

In the midst of looking for an escape, Rei became oblivious to everything else including Minako, who by this time took notice of her obliviousness and took advantage of it by becoming like a ninja and sneaking quickly, but silently right in front of the unsuspecting miko and pressing up against her. The idol placed her head on Rei's firm, stiff shoulder right beside her ear and smiled triumphantly as she felt Rei begin to quiver underneath her.

"What's wrong pyro?" Minako whispered the question in the miko's ear, making sure that her breath came out in puffs against her skin. She then wrapped her slender, yet strong arms around the paralyzed miko's form in a tight hug, but quickly put her stuffed mascot in between them and went back to hugging the stone stiff pyro and laughing warmly saying, "Where's your smart ass comments now my pyro?"

Rei's mind was in a thick fog, her heart pounding rapidly, and so hard against her chest that she swore that it would give out or explode at any given moment. She just couldn't process what the heck the blonde was doing, nor could she wrap her mind that _the_ idol and annoying blonde, Aino Minako was hugging her, and she doesn't think that it was in a 'just friends' way either. Chills raced through her body leaving goosebumps in their wake at the feel of the idol's tepid breath against her skin, which in a way she enjoyed along with the overwhelming scent of the idol's strawberry and vanilla intoxicating perfume. '_Wait. What the hell? Enjoy? Am I enjoying this?_' the prone miko thought slowly, _'Oh heck no! I think the world is coming to an end if I'm enjoying this!! Or at least my world anyway…. '_ Rei's mind came to a dead stop as she felt Minako draw her closer and whisper something she didn't quite catch seductively in her ear.

"And then I'm going to….." Minako purred in delight.

'_Oh crap. She's going to what!?_' Rei's eyes widened at the only part of the sentence her fried mind allowed her to hear, and her cheeks burned a bright tomato red at all the thoughts that creeped into her head. '_This just some nightmare that I will somehow wake up from only to find out that it isn't a nightmare and that it is actually reality and…. And…_'

The room began to swirl and turn many colors as her sight began to waver. '_Greeeeaaaaatt_,' Rei drawled lamely, '_My brain's malfunctioning. Probably off her perfume too. Whoa, look at the pretty colors. Hmmmmm, is that piece of toast floating_?'

Minako was startled when she felt Rei's body begin to tremble, and was confused greatly when she felt more than heard the vibration of Rei's hysteric laughter. '_Oh no!! I think I broke her!!_' The idol pulled back and watched as Rei flung her head back, an insinuating loud thump following the action. '_Ouch, that must have hurt_.' Minako flinched, then pulled completely out of the embrace stuffed animal and all and scooted away to the side of the stack of boxes to watch the show.

Rei yelped in slight pain from hitting her head against the wall and quickly cradled it in her pale hands her eyes shut and tearing up, while muttering a string of curses that slithered from her mouth under her breath. 'Ouch…. that hurt.' Rei whined in thought. She then gasped and snapped her eyes open, raising her head quickly and leaning forward, her hand outstretched before her. "Nooooo!!!! Mr. Toast, come back to me!! Don't leave me here all alone!!"

'_Yep,_' Minako thought, sweat dropping and gazing at Rei as though she grew another head, '_I broke her. Heh, but I have to say it's a lot of fun messing with her, so I don't regret it._'

"Hey, pyro, are you ok?" Minako asked in amusement, scooting a just a _tiny_ little bit closer to the girl, cautiously.

Rei shook her head and looked at Minako curiously before glaring at her and shouting, "What do you think!? My brain practically had a meltdown because of you and your sweetly smelling perfume! And on top of that, what the heck is with you and trying to seduce me!?"

The blonde idol winced, slightly taken aback again thinking, '_Okay, so she had a brain fart thanks to me? Cool. But my perfume, I don't know. It's not like axe…..Or is it?_' Curiously, she looked down at her shirt, lifted the collar to her nose and sniffed, instantly wrinkling her nose. '_Okaaaayyyy, say that it's kind of like axe, and say that I used a bit too much of my favorite strong perfume? I guess I'm too used to the smell to have noticed how much I put on. Oh well, at least pyro over there is back to her usual sarcastic self. I hope. I guess that bonk to the head did the trick._' Looking up, she blushed a little when she saw an annoyed Rei glaring at her.

"Well, you see….." Minako began, laughing a little and waving her hand side to side in a dismissive manner.

"Arooooo!!!"

"What the heck?" Minako asked when she was cut off by a loud wail, and turned her blonde head towards the source of the sound.

"Dammit, I forgot about the dog, I'm such an idiot." Rei said softly, getting up and walking the little space to kneel down by softly whimpering dog and began to caress its soft, long fur, whispering comforting words to calm it.

Minako was amazed at how well Rei handled the dog, and smiled warmly. "So, there's a calm side to this raging flame." She whispered softly

Rei turned from the dog and looked at the blonde suspiciously. "Did you say something blondie?"

Minako laughed softly and made her way back to the dog and the raven haired, fiery miko and shook her head slightly. "No, I didn't say anything."

Rei gave Minako a strange look, her amethyst eyes locking with sapphire ones in an intense staring contest. "Heh, heh, heh." Minako began to shrink back slightly, sweat dropping from the miko's intense gaze.

"Okay," Minako said, giving a wide, innocent smile, "All I said was that you looked like a cute, huggable teddy bear."

Rei flinched and felt her cheeks burn at the idol's comment. '_A teddy bear? She thinks of me as a teddy bear!?_' Rei opened her mouth to say something, only to close it, for her throat was dry, and she just couldn't exactly make a comeback since all of the retorts only made more heat rise to her face.

Minako watched in amusement as Rei continued to open and close her mouth, the idol then quickly covered her mouth to stifle her giggle as she watched intently when Rei's face became redder by the minute. There was bait dangling right in front of Minako's face, delicious bait that she couldn't help but fall for. After all, there probably wouldn't be another time when she could tease the miko like this. That is at least, not as soon as to her liking anyway. "So pyro, what kind of thoughts are going through your little mind that's got you all flustered? Neh?" The idol purred seductively, feeling victorious when Rei's face became another shade darker.

The miko turned her head away from the idol quickly, to save herself from further embarrassment only to weakly stutter out in reply, "I-I. W-well I…."

Rei was abruptly cut off, getting serious as her head as well as the idol's snapped up when hearing a far off anguished cry.

A/N: Sorry this chapter was kind of going nowhere. I had a little trouble thinking of the best way to get it to where it needed to be. Anyway, just to give a head's up, the next couple of chapters are going to be a bit angsty. But, hope you all enjoyed. Until next time, later.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I do not own Sailor Moon.

Secluded Flame

Chapter 4

RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMRRRR

Rei's face paled slightly when she heard a far off cry that seemed so familiar to her. Then it hit her, her amethyst eyes widening in realization.

"Father." she said, barely above a whisper. Minako never caught what she said though as she was lost in her own thoughts that accompanied the familiar, dreadful feeling.

_'What's this feeling? It's familiar, but...... different, what could it be?'_ Minako was so lost in her wandering thoughts until she saw Rei shoot up to her feet and sprint towards the door.

"Rei!!" the idol yelled, her hand outstretched as if she was trying to stop her from leaving. The miko stopped and turned around to see the idol getting ready to get to her feet and follow her, so she sighed and quickly went to Minako's side, crouching down and putting a steady hand on her shoulder, giving it a comforting squeeze.

Minako sat still and just gazed into those magnificent amethyst eyes that blazed with a soft, warm flame. "Don't you go and worry your pretty little blonde head off, I'm just going to see what happened. So just sit back, relax, and keep Mr. doggy woggy over there some company, alright?"

The idol looked up at Rei's reassuring but impish grin, and with great hesitance she took a deep breath and replied, "Alright."

Rei nodded and got up to turn and leave, but a soft, petite hand that managed to worm its way into her own tugged it lightly. Looking back, her eyes locked with worried crystal blue ones.

"Promise me that you'll come back safely."

It was a soft, pleading voice that was laced with concern, and although Rei didn't know why the idol was worried, a feeling in her gut had her wanting to instantly put the idol at ease.

"I promise." the miko laced their fingers together and squeezed softly.

And with that, Rei let go of the blonde's hand and turned on heel, sprinting out of the room, her face a mask of determination.

It was a few minutes later that Minako's worry grew and started biting the inside of her cheek in a nervous habit. when there was no sight of Rei. _'What's going on? What's taking her so long? And what the heck is with this bad feeling gnawing at me? Something's wrong.'_

And it was at that thought an Inhuman, ferocious screech sounded from outside, chilling her blood to the point where it felt as if it stilled and froze. The idol shivered unintentionally when the screech traveled through her stiff body and made her stomach churn. _'A youma! What's a youma doing here?!'_

The idol's panic stricken face became pale, her crystal sapphire eyes widening in fear , "Rei!!" she rasped, breathing coming in short, fast and shallow. Minako immediately shot to her feet, and ran out the door like a bat out of Hell, only to skid to a stop and come face to face with......

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Rei ran out of the door, leaving Minako to take care of the dog, and continued jogging towards the front of the building where she felt a sudden evil presence.

_'Shit'_, she thought, 'What the heck is this feeling.' the miko shivered, a sense of warning and dread settled in her stomach, poisoning her confidence.

The closer she got to her destination the more evil flooded her senses, causing her head to throb slightly, and setting off warning bells in her head. Her whole being began screaming at her to turn back before something bad were to happen. But, being the stubborn ass she was, Rei just steeled herself and sprinted onward turning the corner, unprepared for what she saw there.

_'W-what the hell is that?!!!'_ Rei felt her senses slowly shutting down at the horrific scene displayed before her, a cold sweat breaking out over her pale face.

In front of her was a monster, no a demon, that was currently standing over the deathly still form of the priest. Held tightly in it's violet leathered glove was a thin, metallic rapier, the front side of the blade tainted a sickeningly crimson as blood dripped from the tip of the blade to the paved concrete below.

Rei's mind though, did not pay immediate heed to the demon, and only the sight of the wounded priest registered in her panicked mind. "Father!!" Rei choked out, but only in vain as the priest remained still. Instinct took over and the miko clenched her fists tightly, rage roaring through her veins like an unkempt forest fire. She snapped her head up and looked malevolently at the attacker's leather armored back, barely containing the urge to jump that thing and crush it for even attempting to touch the kind man who always looked after her.

"Hey you!!" she hissed dangerously, violet eyes flashing with rage as she locked on to her target. She took a step forward, her black tennis shoes stomping on the cemented walkway with new found confidence surging through her.

The creature twitched and turned it's head to the side in response, but made no movement away from the priest's body.

"Yeah, that's right! I'm talking to you stupid!!"

At this, the attacker turned around fully to face Rei, smirking evilly at the sudden stunned expression on the miko's face, and bared it's sharp, glinting fangs that rested at the side of its mouth at its new prey. Rei froze, in her spot, shocked at the attacker's appearance, _'What the h-heck is th-that thing!'_ Rei gulped heavily, paralyzed and shivering in fear like a small rabbit trapped and cornered by a large, slimy snake. _'I-it's not even human!'_ Her amethyst orbs widened in complete and undeluted fear and shock, _'Shit!! And I just called that thing stupid too! Man, it is soooo going to kill me, but if I leave, then the priest will-'_

"Tch."

The creature smirked and began walking slowly to her stone still form, it looked like it was enjoying toying with her, and only made the miko's heart race even more wildly than before, it felt as if it was going to burst from her chest and run away leaving the rest of her body there for this demon to play with.

'I have to do something but what?' Rei glared, but felt her breathing stop once she locked gazes with the demon's black voids for eyes that were staring at her, analyzing her behind its deep purple, masquerade like mask. that was set on the demon's pale, sinsiter face. It raised its rapier to its thin, mouth and stuck out its long, snake like tounge and licked the blood that stained its demonic blade only to make a sound of enjoyment. The movement sent cold shivers down Rei's spine, but also poured gasoline to the already raging flame. Letting out a fierce battle cry, Rei fought through her paralism and rushed forward towards the monster without even a second thought. The demon stopped in surprise, but quickly got over it and raised its rapier into the already darkening and thundering sky. It let out an inhuman screech and quickly side stepped Rei's punch to it's torso, but then jumped up to dodge the miko's following sweeping kick to its feet and brought down its glowing rapier in a downward strike.

Rei's instincts kicked in and she rolled backwards and away from the demon's attack, letting out a huge breath she had been holding and took a deeper breath to steady her self. _'Damn,'_ she thought, _'this thing's faster than I thought.'_ She gazed at her opponent steadily and as it did her, _'But I can't back down, I have to beat this thing, even if it kills me. Because if I don't.'_ An image of Minako flashed through her mind, _'If I don't then, Minako will be in danger, who knows what this thing will do.'_

Rei was abruptly brought out of her thoughts as the demon ran towards her again, it's blade set and ready tostrike. Once in range, the demon swung its blade, only to have the miko side step it and rush forward swinging her clenched right fist in a punch that landed squarely on the demon's masked face, forcing the thing to stumble back in surprise. _'Ha!, take that you damned demon!' _she thought rushing forward and jumping up high to avoid a wide arced slash aimed at her torso and twisted in the air to land a kick to the back of the demon's head again, followed by a shoulder tackle once the miko landed on her feet again.

The demon stumbled again and lost its on its demonic rapier as it lost its balance and fell face forward to the ground. With slight relief, the miko took a deep breath, let it out, but jumped back a few times to put some distance between herself and the thing, never letting her guard down.

After a few moments though, Rei, snuck a glance at the priest and, without taking her eyes off of the demon, ran towards his still form. _'I'm almost there, just hold on.'_

Without warning, and in a flash of blinding speed, the demon was in front of Rei before she could even blink, its rapier pulsating with dark power and glowing an eerie purple. But all Rei could do was continue to run, she was too stunned, and her mind had yet to catch up with her with the demon's dissappearing act to even stop, no she couldn't even stop or defend herself if she wanted to, and as she turned her head to lock eyes with it, the demon attacked.

A flash of light was all that Rei could see.

"AAAAAAAHHHHH!!!!!"

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"Get out of the way!!" Minako yelled at the person in front of her who dared to stand in the way of her getting to Rei's side.

"No." came the calm reply.

Minako just glared down the person in front of her, clenching her fists tightly to the point where her manicured nails dug themselves into her skin.

Standing in front of her, was a man with hair of striking silver, long and tied in a pony tail, his piercing crystal ocean blue eyes locked with her cerulian ones and stared her down, as if he was trying bound her to where she stood. He wore long, pure white pants with a long robed like shirt of the matching color with the exception of the intigrated designs of silver along with the gold designs that wound the way at the edge of his the shirt and its long flowing sleeves, a large crescent moon sparkled in the middle of his shirt. On his slightly tanned forhead where his bangs parted was where a distinct golden crescent moon was embedded .

"Get out of my way Artemis!" Minako yelled desperately, "I have no time to be standing around, when a youma's here and Rei's in danger!!"

When she got no response from the man other than the look he gave her that said 'I already know,' the blonde tried to run past him, only to land flat on her butt.

"Artemis!!" she shouted, looking up at him in shock and anger.

"I can't let you go." his smooth voice stated firmly.

"Why?" she whispered desperately. She sat on the walkway, imploring Artemis with pleading cerulian pools.

Artemis crossed his arms and looked at her sternly, "Do you really think that you're in the state to go and fight!?"

"What do you mean? I have to go and destroy that thing before it kills Rei!!"

Artemis sighed, closing his eyes and shaking his silver head, "This is what I mean Minako." His eyes snapped open and locked gazes with his charge, "You are too emotional right now!! If I had just let you go, you would have run out there without transforming, and that would have blown your cover once you did!!"

Minako flinched at his words. "Tha- that's not true!"

"Well then, tell me what you were planning to do how you are now."

"I was going to rescue Rei!"

"Yes, I know that, and that's all that was and is on you're mind."

Minako's eyes narrowed, "So what if it is!"

"That's exactly my point you stubborn girl! You're not thinking straight! You need to calm down now, and think about this rationally. Ignore Rei for once and-"

Minako shot to her feet, stepping in front of him and grabbing two fistfuls of his shirt shouting, "And what? You want me to just forget about her and let her die! When have you become so heartless?" her voice dropped low, a bit of venom tracing them icily.

Artemis wasn't fazed at all by the idol's actions, he just towered over her, glaring at her through narrowed ocean blue eyes that blazed with as much frustration as his voice carried when he said, "How is caring about your safety and trying to get you to think straight heartless? And in the case of Rei, I'm not telling you to forget about her, because you'll be able to help her once you get your priorities straight!! Remember your mission!"

Minako's eyes widened in realization of how she was acting, a gasp leaving her slightly parted lips. With shaky hands, the idol let go of Artemis' shirt and slowly took a step back, her head hung low with her long, blonde bangs covering her eyes.

"I- I'm sorry Artemis," she whispered quietly, "I don't know what came over me. I-"

"Yes, Minako?" Artemis motioned for her to go on when she stopped.

"I'm afraid of losing her again Artemis." the idol choked out, her small yet sturdy shoulders began to shake, and raising her tear streaked face, Minako rasped out painfully, "I'm aware of the mission that I have to complete, but I can't- I can't lose her again!!"

"Minako." Artemis sighed gently, he looked over her quivering form with soft eyes and stepped forward to take her into a tight, comforting embrace, not minding one bit as her steadily flowing tears soaked his shirt. 'She is but a child after all.'

A few moments passed before Minako reluctantly pulled out of his warm embrace, her petite hands rubbing her closed eyes to wipe the tears away, "I'm sorry about that Artemis." her cheeks grew a light pink in embarassment of breaking down and showing weakness in front of her trusted adviser. Of course it's happened a number of times before, its just that she doesn't like to show weakness that much and to anyone, even Artemis.

"It's alright, now-"

"AAAAHHHHHH!!!!!"

Both Artemis' and Minako's head snapped up to face the now darkened sky at the anguished scream that echoed in the now near sufficating air. "Rei!!" she yelled, forgetting about what Artemis was telling her before and charged past him, ignoring his yell telling her to stop. Her mind was going back into a whirwind of fear. _'I can't believe I haven't felt the change in the youma's energy! Rei's in major trouble. She could be-'_

Minako was two feet from the corner that lead to the front of the church when a stirdy hand grabbed her by the shirt and flung her roughly to the ground again. The blonde whimpered a little and rubbed her smarting behind, she looked up locking her desperate cerulian eyes with angry ocean blue eyes.

"You have to stop being so reckless!" Artemis scolded once again blocking her way.

"But, she's fighting that youma by herself!"

"I understand your feelings towards Rei, but you have to transform first if you want to help her."

"AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!" A second pained scream pierced through the air, sending a deathly cold shiver down Minako's spine, and looking into Artemis' eyes, she scrambled to her feet and nodded quickly, taking out her henshin pen, raising it into the thundering sky.

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She couldn't breath, and when she could, she was gasping desperately for air, her head in a haze. There was just so much blood. So much blood everywhere, the ground her clothes, and damn, with clouded eyes, Rei gazed at the gaping hole in her right shoulder as she fell to her knees with her left hand holding her gaping wound out of instinct. _'It's a miracle that I'm alive. If my body didn't move when it did then that demon would impaled my heart no lie. Speaking of demons...'_

Rei looked up at the demon above her, a weak growl rumbling low in her throat when the thing licked her blood off of its sword and smirked. _'The damned thing is toying with me.'_ Her body shuddered when its pitch black eyes bored into her and began to march casually towards her, patting the sword with its hand. _'I have to get that sword away from that thing, but-'_ When Rei tried to move, her right arm spazzed and sent a wave of blinding pain through her body leaving her panting heavily. The miko shook her head, _'At least that blast thing sent me back a few feet.'_ She watched the demon continue its path towards her, its sword beginning to pulse with dark power. _'Oh well,'_ she thought, forcing her aching body up off of the ground and into a shaky standing position, _'Time to get this party started.'_

"Hey ugly!" Rei yelled, a smirk painting her pained features and a flicker of mischief dancing in her amethyst pools.

The youma stopped in its tracks for a moment and cocked its head to the side.

"Ha! At least you know your name!" Rei yelled could have sworn the thing growled, but pushed that aside her smirk grew dark and wide, "This isn't over, not even by a long shot."

With that she ran straight for the youma for round two. The youma smirked and dissapeared right before her eyes again.

"Tch." Rei's senses flared and she instantly jumped to the right, barely missing the youma's sword thrust and spun around to successfully land a punch in the youma's face.

The youma stumbled a few steps back but wasn't given the chance to recover as Rei ran forward to continue her assault by sweeping the youma's feet from under itself with a kick, instantly following it with a powerful punch to its stomach as it was falling to the ground. The youma's pulsing rapier flew out of its hand, hitting the walkway and skidding to a stop a foot away from them. Rei never wasted anytime as she ran to the blade, grabbing the demonic rapier by its intricate, violet handle and turned to face the youma who pushed itself to its feet with no signs of worry on its face.

_'What the?'_ the miko narrowed her eyes warily at the demon and winced slightly, nearly collapsing to her knees as her wounded shoulder throbbed with intense pain.

"What? Shouldn't you be shaking in your little leather boots and be like, 'Oh no! That strange girl that should be dead or at least unconcious has my sword! I'm sooooooooo scared!' or something like that?"

The youma just stood there, its damnable smirk plastered on its pale face.

"Oh come on!! Can't you give me some-"

Rei looked down at the rapier in her trembling left hand; there were purple sparks of lightning swirling from the tip of the blade and quickly moving upwards. _'Shit!'_ The miko instantly dropped the blade, and turned her head to see the youma with its left arm stretched out, its palm facing towards her and closing quickly into a fist, setting off a blast of dark lightning from the sword that struck everything within a 3 foot radius, without affecting its owner at all.

"AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!!" Rei threw her head back with a blood curdling screech that was ripped from her throat when her body was struck with a pain of the likes she never felt before, the dark lightning surging throughout her body. 'Is- is this the end?' the question echoed from the recesses of her mind, when her life began to flash in front of her eyes, 'Is this how I'm going to die?' Pictures of her grandpa, the preist, and her mother passed though in a flash while falling forward onto the ground, the youma's attack quickly subsiding.

'You haven't forgotten me, now have you my beloved pyro?'

It was a ghost of a voice that was accompanied by the faint feeling of arms wrapping around her smarting form before she laid still on the hot ground below her. It was so familiar, and the only name she could whisper before she embraced the darkness was one word, "Minako."

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A/N: Ok, well here's the ending of the 4th chapter. Sorry for the long wait, but, I hope you enjoyed it. And, I lied, there's pretty much no angst in this chapter. Let me know what you think because I'm still trying to get used to the whole battle scene writing thing. Anyway, Laters.


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I do not own Sailor Moon.

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Secluded Flame

Chapter 5

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Minako held her henshin pen high above her head and shouted, "Venus Crystal Power!!"

A bright, warm, golden light surrounded the area only to vanish in seconds to reveal a transformed Aino Minako. The idol now stood wearing a short, cuffed sleeved white shirt attached to a short, orange, flowing skirt. Also attached to the shirt was an orange collar with a large blue ribbon set in the middle of the shirt with a bright yellow-orange jewel at the center. At the back of the skirt sat another large yellow ribbon, and running from her elbows to her finger tips are two white gloves with orange cuffs at the end. And, resting on her forehead was a golden tiara with a shining orange jewel embedded at the center.

"Alright," Artemis said, crossing his arms and nodding his approval, "Now go save that pyro and finish off that youma." Without warning, a soft white glow enveloped the tall, silver haired male, and Minako watched on as he slowly transformed back into the little white furball of a cat. "I won't be able to help you since it still takes a lot of my power to even hold up my human form."

Minako nodded in understanding before running around the corner and gasping at the dreadful sight before her. "Oh no." she whispered. There before her was Rei, laying face down and unconscious on charred grass, lightly twitching even though it was clear to Minako that she was unconscious.

'_Oh, Rei._' she thought while taking in the weakened miko's form, feeling a bubble of rage rise up through her. She clenched her shaking gloved fists to her side and turned slowly to glare icily at the youma who stood a couple of feet from her Reiko, retrieving it's slim, rapier. Taking a determined step forward, Venus stared the youma down and said with much venom in her soft voice, "Step away from her now and face me." the young senshi held her hands out and held a glowing, chain of golden hearts that materialized out of thin air in them tightly. "I am your opponent now."

Without much thought, Minako swung her chain forward, striking at the youma hard and fast, but to no use as the demon jumped to the side and out of the way. Minako cursed under her breath and instantly swung her chain in an arc to make it follow the demon's movement, successfully landing a harsh blow to its midsection and sending it flying since it could not avoid the strike. Minako watched with a blank expression as the youma crashed to the ground with a sickening crunch, and brought her chain back to her. She swung the chain lazily by her side, walking towards the fallen demon, and without so much as batting an eye, began to swiftly swing her golden chain in multiple arcs, each of the strikes, successfully hitting the youma, causing it to cry out in pain with each blow. It was only a few minutes until Minako let up her attack, bringing her chain back to her before having it disappear from her hands while watching the dust clear away to show the aftermath of her fierce attacks. The youma was laying face first on the ground, without so much as twitching.

A sense of satisfaction filled Minako when the youma stopped moving and looked as though it was beginning to disappear. She then turned and hurried to Rei's side, kneeling down on the charred grass and gently picking up the young miko's form into her arms in a warm embrace, and holding her closely to her heart. The steady rise and fall of the girl's chest brought a bright smile to the idol's face, and she rose a hand to gently caress her cheek. It was a mere ghost of a touch on the soft, burned cheek though for she didn't want to hurt Rei.

"Rei." she whispered endearingly, cradling the miko in her arms closer to her, and was surprised when her deep amethyst eyes fluttered open, trying to blink her haze away.

"Minako?" was the soft, groggy whisper when she glanced at the senshi before her. She tried to get up, but didn't have much energy to do so, so she fell limply into the secure, welcoming arms.

Minako's smile grew wider and brighter when hearing Rei's voice, though it sounded a bit weak and hoarse. She ran her gloved hand through wet, raven bangs, brushing them back from the miko's confused, amethyst eyes. "Don't worry, Minako is alright. You'll be fine, I took care of that demon, and I'm going to contact the ambulance to come pick you and the priest up. So, just hold on." Minako squeezed her gently for emphasis that she'd be okay.

"Sailor Venus?" Rei asked in a weak, confused voice and looking at the blonde senshi while trying to blink away the haziness she felt.

"The one and only." Minako whispered lightly, sending the miko a teasing wink.

Rei closed her eyes in pain when her head throbbed and rasped out in a whisper, "No, you're Minako. You have to be. You smell just like her. You look like her too. And your voice is so similar." she slowly brought a shaking hand up to press against her clammy forehead in an attempt to ease her headache.

To say that what Rei had just said shocked Minako is a complete understatement. In fact, it nearly made her incapable of speaking or even thinking for that matter. So she stared at the one in her arms in shock, shaking her head to clear her mind so she would be able to think straight. '_Rei. She figured it out. But, even if she did, as long as I don't admit to it, then, maybe she'll forget, or at least go along with what I say for now.'_

Sighing, Minako grabbed Rei's trembling, warm hand; the one she held to her head, and held it in her own gloved hand, entwining their fingers as she did. The idol stared deeply into the miko's weary amethyst eyes and stated clearly, "I can assure you that I am not Aino Minako, and that the idol is safe, alright?"

Even though suspicion was still evident in her eyes, Rei nodded quietly, a scowl claiming her features as she did so. Minako smiled at this and was about to say something when Rei's uncertain features quickly twisted into that of horror. And in an instant, without being able to say or do anything, Minako watched on in shock as Rei pushed away and out of Minako's arms before flinging herself in front of the stunned idol and knocking her down to the ground with a burst of adrenaline. A silent scream escaped the idol's constricted throat as she watched a beam of pure, violet energy pierce through the raven haired girl's stomach. Her eyes widening in terror, crystal tears beginning to form at the edges of her eyes the name of the falling raven bursting from her throat in a strangled cry. It was as if time had slowed. Minako pushed up and caught the miko before she fell to the ground in a heap and slowly laid the girl down, watching with so much fear as the blood seeped through her clothes and onto the ground to form a small puddle of crimson. Venus began shaking as Rei's breathing became shallow, only to stop when she coughed up a bit of blood.

"Rei!!" Minako exclaimed, carefully bringing the fallen miko's head to lay on her lap. The tears were released when Rei coughed up blood once again, forcing her eyes to flutter open to gaze warmly into Minako's fearful, tearing, cerulean eyes.

With a trembling hand, Rei reached up to cup Minako's warm cheek and smiled when the blonde leaned into the touch and even brought up a hand of her own to intertwine their fingers.

"Minako." she whispered, and continued on without giving the said blonde to deny or even speak, "I know it's you, so you don't have to deny it. Please, don't try to lie to me. Please."

Minako nodded, her tears trailing down her cheeks and off her face to drip onto Rei's. Rei rubbed her thumb gently on the blonde's cheek to wipe away the ever forming tears, "Don't…..worry….about….me." she whispered while closing her eyes and resigning herself to the peaceful darkness.

"Rei!" Minako shook the miko gently in an attempt to wake her, "Rei, get up!" the raven haired girl lay still in the idol's lap, "Please!!" With a desperate wail, Minako fell forward, burying her face into the raven haired girl's neck, sobbing and shaking with much emotion.

A wicked, victorious laugh sounded through the stiff air, gaining Minako's attention, and releasing a rage within her; the likes of which she has never felt. Forcing herself to quell her sobs, she slowly lifted her head from Rei's neck, kissing the unconscious miko's forehead tenderly as she sat up straight, glaring at the youma with so much hatred that the youma actually stopped and took an unconscious step backward. With the utmost carefulness, Minako moved Rei's injured form from her lap and placed her gently on the lush, supple grass next to her. Before getting up though, Minako leant next to Rei's ear, one gloved hand coming up to brush her golden locks out of her face and to keep them from falling on Rei, and whispered, "I'll be back for you, I promise. I won't let anymore harm come to you."

Standing up, and steeling herself for the fight she was going to finish, Minako took a deep breath, glancing at Rei one last time before turning fully to the youma, a murderous, aura being shown in a musty, golden orange glow surrounded her. Her resolve was firm, and step by step, she neared the unconsciously shaking youma and said in a cold voice being laced heavily with malice, "I know that it's my fault for not making sure that you were dead, but still…." she glared at the youma with flashing, cerulean eyes, "I won't forgive you for what you've done to her. I'm going to tear you apart."

Nothing more was said as she sprinted forward, quickly closing the distance between herself and the stunned youma like a cheetah closing in on its prey. She was only four feet away when she called on her ethereal, golden chain and swung it at the youma. The demon tried to dodge it at the last minute, but was too late as the chain snaked around it's form and trapped it, with its arms pressed tightly to its sides with no way out. It struggled for a bit, but it couldn't break free, and Minako tugged harshly at the chain, making it tighten around the bound youma, forcing it to drop its rapier again, before pulling the chain with a greater force, spinning around and using the momentum and her weight to fling the demon high into the air and over her shoulder, sending it crashing into the ground a few feet from her. The concrete of the paved walkway cracked under the pressure, and the youma grunted in pain, not being given the chance to recover when the senshi of Venus flung it back and forth repeatedly, and driving the weakened youma into the paved walkway. It only stopped when Minako flung the demon in the air again, but this time, right above her that the constricting, glowing chain disappeared and left the youma suspended in the air. But it wasn't over for Minako leaped up right after the youma and delivered a round house kick to the back of the youma's neck and sending it crashing into the ground once more before concentrating and gathering as much energy she could into the tips of her two fingers.

With a cry filled with rage, Minako shouted, "Crescent Beam!!" and let a beam of golden energy shoot towards the fallen youma, completely blasting it to dust and leaving a small crater in its wake.

Minako landed gracefully on the ground, a golden light enveloping her as she did so, leaving her in her civilian clothes when it faded away. She was breathing heavily, but just shook it off with the determination to run towards Rei and gather her gently within her arms, only after she took her cell phone and dialed with a frantic call for a couple of ambulances to come and pick up Rei and the injured priest.

Looking down at Rei's battered and paling form, she rocked her gently, ignoring the fact that her blood was now seeping onto her clothes and whispered consoling words into her ear, hoping that the young miko could hear her. Would hear her. She had taken to caressing the girl's long, raven locks, when the sounds of the ambulances' wailing could be heard, piercing the air, and the flashing of their red lights could be seen. Minako looked up as a few people came out with long, white stretchers came barreling towards them, splitting up so a small team could tend to the priest while the other came to tend to Rei. A tall man, with gentle, chocolate eyes and short, scruffy, rust red-orange hair came to neal next to Minako and sighed gently saying, "It's alright now, we'll take good care of her."

He gently reached out and carefully took Rei's limp form into his strong arms, easily lifting her up and placing her on the stretcher where the others began applying pressure to her wound with thick, gauze to sustain the bleeding while running towards one of the large, white and red ambulances and loading her in before taking off and leaving Minako alone, staring longingly after them with the tall male standing next to her.

Sighing, the man mumbled quietly, "What have you gotten yourself into now, kid?"

This caught Minako's attention, and the blonde haired idol quickly snapped her head up to see the man shaking his head and scratching the back of his neck.

"What do you mean?" she asked in slight confusion before standing up and asking in slight panic, "Wait, aren't you supposed to be with them now?!"

The man looked at Minako with quizzical, chocolate brown eyes and replied, "No, I'm a police. I was over at the hospital when I heard about what had happened, so I decided to go with them to see what's happened and ask you a few questions, Ms….."

Realization dawned on his face when he _really_ looked at the blonde, and slapped himself on the forehead, while cussing lightly under his breath. Shaking his head he looked at Minako, who raised an eyebrow in his direction and gave a shrug and a sheepish, apologetic grin, "Sorry, Ms. Aino. I didn't recognize you at first."

Minako smiled lightly and waved it off, "It's alright." she said, but thought, '_His reaction isn't near as cute or funny as Rei's._' At the thought of Rei, Minako immediately sobered with a frown claiming her features.

The man noticed this and went to stand in front of her, placing a reassuring hand on her shoulder and giving it a comforting squeeze. "Don't worry." he said softly, "That kid's one heck of a fighter, so she'll pull through this, so just be strong and wait this out."

Minako nodded, looking up into his warm eyes and asked with an excited gleam in her cerulean eyes, "So how do you know Rei? Can you tell me more about her?"

The man laughed, saying, "I was just about to ask you that. Well, except for the second part." He gave a quick wink and smiled, "I'll tell you what you'd like to know back at the station, but you have to tell me what's happened here first. Deal?"

Minako's face lightened, and she nodded, "Deal."

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The ride to the police station was smooth and filled with silence. Minako's gaze was out the window, watching as things flew by with glazed eyes. She was slumped back in the tan, leather seat, leaning her arm on the window with her chin in her hands palm, with nothing but worry over Rei's health and safety going through her mind. She was so oblivious and lost in thought that when the slick, blue Mercedes stopped in front of the average sized building, the man who brought her hear had to clear his throat to get snap her out of her reverie.

"Ms. Aino," he began, "We're here." He then opened his door and proceeded to get out and walk towards the front of the station, with Minako right behind him, her purse in hand with Artemis, safe and hiding inside it.

They walked into a large room with bustling people walking around, chatting, on computers, and just doing work. Staying behind the man and holding her purse close to her with her disguise on, they weaved through the busy people and down a wide, pretty long hall. They passed a few doors and people on the way and came up to a mahogany door, with the words 'Investigation Room 1' pressed in bold, black letters on the murky window. The tall man reached out to grab the golden knob and opened the door, ushering the idol in first like a gentleman room and gestured her to sit in the large, burgundy cushioned chair that sat at one side of a large, stained, oak table. She nodded and greatfully sat in the chair, watching as the man shut the door and plopped down in a black, leathered seat next to her with one arm slung behind the chair, and his legs crossed while he leant back with his eyes closed with a sigh.

"So," he began, opening his eyes and looking at the silent idol, "What happened?"

Minako's face became grave at the memory but responded with as much truth as she could, "This morning, I decided to visit the nearby church to think about some things that was on my mind. When I left, I ran into the priest. He asked me if I could help him look after a dog he and a nun found. I agreed, and that's when I met Rei." Minako smiled warmly at this, and the man watched intently as she continued in a small voice, "She came and said that she'd help as well. So, we were watching the dog and chatting when we heard a scream. Rei immediately jumped up and told me to stay here while she checked out what happened. I agreed and waited for awhile when I heard an inhuman scream. I didn't like it, and I was worried about Rei, so I ran to help her." she stopped and turned to look at the police besides her who just nodded for her to continue. Minako took a deep breath to steady herself before she continued on, "When I got there, I saw one of those monsters that have been terrorizing the city lately. I was a little scared at first, but that didn't compare to the fear I felt when I saw Rei laying on the ground, face down. I ran to her side to immediately and tried to wake her up. It worked, but that's when the demon attacked again and Rei pushed me out of the way, taking the hit for me and protecting me." Minako's voice was shaky then, tears that started to form in her eyes falling freely. "That monster was going to attack again, but was stopped when Sailor Venus appeared and crushed it. I called for ambulances immediately after she left, and you know the rest."

The man nodded and placed a hand on one of her tightly shaking fists, "Don't worry, Rei will be alright." sighing, he retracted his hand and stated while looking off at the ceiling that hung above them, "For what you want to know about Rei, all I really know is that she very distant, and can be very cold and quite the little smart ass." They both grinned at that before he continued, this time looking straight into Minako's cerulean eyes, "She seems to get in quite a bit of trouble a lot, and is more of a lone wolf person. She never really speaks, even when spoken to, and has a quick temper. She packs quite a punch to." he joked, raising a hand to rub his cheek. "I don't know much more about her, she's pretty much a mystery, but don't let that keep you down. I'm sure that you can break through to her if you keep at it." he winked and Minako felt heat rise to her cheeks.

"Now," he said, standing up and walking over to the door, "I'm going to let you change out of your outfit and into something else, since that has blood on it. I'm sure that you don't want to worry your manager and whatnot, so there's a pair of extra clothes in that cabinet behind you. I'll be out here when you're done."

Minako nodded, and with that, he walked out the door only to stop and poke his head in to say, "Oh, and by the way, the name's Markus."

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A/N: Here's the 5th chapter, I hope you guys enjoyed it. Let me know what you think. Laters. Oh, yeah, you will be seeing more of Markus in other chapters as well.


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I do not own Sailor Moon

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Secluded Flame

Chapter 6

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It's been a week since that incident, and Minako has yet to visit Rei. It's not that she didn't want to, it's just that her schedule had been so tight, and she had so much to do, that by the time she had some free time, she was either exhausted, or called in by her manager to discuss some things. But, finally, after much begging, she was able to get a day off to go see the said miko. Her heart wrenched with fear, worry, and regret. She feared the miko's condition, and continually worried over her health and safety. And because of this, sleep had been quite hard to catch, always slipping through her small, slender fingers when waking up in the dead of night, a silent scream caught in the back of her throat as cold, numerous beads of sweat drenched her trembling form.

Nightmares were all that become of her, and in each and every one, there lay the miko held tightly in her arms, immobile, with no breath. But today, she was hoping to quench her dying thirst of needing to see her beloved miko safe, but most of all alive.

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It was dark. All she could tell was that she was lying down on something soft yet sturdy, and was covered up by something thick and warm. That alone knocked out any thoughts of her being dead, and made her wonder how long she's been knocked out. Groaning, Rei slowly opened her eyes, wincing and hissing softly at the bright light that greeted her sore eyes. Blinking quickly, Rei adjusted her cloudy amethyst eyes to the light before looking around through narrowed eyes and taking in her surroundings. Most everything was white, the only thing that wasn't was the empty wooden chair with a green cushioned seat sitting against the wall and the light oak door itself.

'_Wow. I'd really be an idiot if I didn't know I was in a hospital after seeing all this white.'_ the miko thought tiredly.

The sudden opening of the door drew the miko's hazy attention as she turned her head to see a nurse adorned in a bright white outfit walk in with a pad in her hands, a warm smile pasted on her features.

"Ah! Hello Ms. Hino, I'm glad to see that you're awake." the nurse greeted, her warm smile widening.

"How long have I been out?" the miko asked, wincing at her weak, scratchy voice.

The nurse placed her pad down on the small table beside the bed, answering while she was checking over the miko's injuries, "You've been out for a week now."

Rei's eyes widened in surprise, one thought entering her mind, '_What about Father!?'_

The nurse's gaze softened as she spoke softly, reassuringly, "Do not worry. The priest is fine. He woke up a couple of days before you did, and is healing nicely."

Rei let out a breath she didn't know she was holding when a feeling of relief washed over her like a cool river, but tensed with hardened eyes when wondering what had become of Minako. She knew the idol's secret. She knew, and she was worried.

A sudden light laughter pulled her out of her thoughts, and Rei looked up at the nurse with a questioning glance.

"Ms. Hino, you shouldn't worry so much. I was told that no one else besides the priest and you were harmed, so don't worry." The nurse walked away from Rei's bedside and walked towards the door, only to stop when taking the round, steel handle, to turn and say, "Since you're awake, I'm going to go get the doctor. We'll be back soon so he can check on you and we can clean you up."

Rei barely nodded and just watched as the nurse walked out of the room, leaving only the sound of the click of the closing door to echo through the room. With a sigh, Rei closed her eyes and leaned her head back.

'_I really do hope Minako's okay.'_

________________

"Alright, Rei, you are looking well!" The tall, doctor said, his dark brown eyes as warm as the smile on his face, as he finished scribbling a few notes down on his pad. "But I do wish you'd stop ending up here as often as you do. You know it makes me worried."

Rei rolled her deep, amethyst eyes, turning her head to the side to hid the light blush dusting her pale cheeks. "Sorry, but it couldn't be helped this time, doc."

"Sure, I believe you." the doctor drawled, rolling his eyes and flicking Rei's forehead, "Come on, Rei. I told you not to call me that, call me Derek."

Rei scowled, at the man before smirking and saying, "Are you trying to pick me up, doc?"

Derek's eyes widened, "What?"

Rei shrugged her smirk widening, and her amethyst eyes narrowing, "It's mighty low of you to try to flirt with a patient. Especially one younger than you, you know."

Derek choked on his breath, stuttering before shaking his head to regain his posture. Scowling, the doctor glared at the injured miko and saying with his hands on his hips, "One, that isn't even remotely funny."

"But the look on your face was priceless." Rei interrupted, chuckling.

Derek sighed and shook his head, "Yeah. But you better watch yourself, because I'm your doctor. And you don't want to mess with me. I could easily slip a few happy pills that you desperately need into your food and you wouldn't even know it."

Rei's eyes widened in shock, and whatever retort she was going to say was lost when her mouth shut with an audible click. The doctor laughed, looking at her paling face and grinned slyly. Turning, he strolled casually to the door throwing back, "Don't worry. If you are on your _best _behavior than you won't have to worry." turning his head to look over his shoulder he said to the fearful miko who gulped audibly, "Now give me a smile!"

The edges of Rei's mouth began to twitch upward, as she forced herself to give a strained smile.

"Good." Derek said.

A sudden 'bing' caused the doctor to turn and pick up the telephone on the wall next to the door.

"Yes? This is doctor Minagawa." he said into the receiver.

Rei watched, with her strained smile as he nodded his head a few times saying 'yes' before putting the slim, white phone back onto the wall and turning to grin at the miko. "Looks like you have a visitor. Very rare."

Amethyst eyes narrowed, and the miko scowled, scoffing and turning away from Derek muttering a, "Whatever." under her breath.

Derek laughed, leaving the room and leaving Rei to wait and wonder who her visitor is. It wasn't a long wait though, as the door began to open to reveal a blonde wearing a large brown cap and large, dark sunglasses inching into the room shyly.

Rei's slim eyebrows rose when the blonde walked towards her, removing her 'disguise' and revealing a pair of large, cerulean eyes shining with happiness and relief and her long, flowing, glistening blonde hair fell down her back like a waterfall.

"Hey." she whispered softly, walking to stand by the miko's bedside.

Rei smirked, "Hey. You would think that someone would notice who you are by now, because that disguise really doesn't do anything for you. It only makes you look suspicious."

Minako's giggle was a bright song as she carried one of the cushioned chairs from across the room to settle next to the raven haired girl.

"How are you doing?" she asked, stroking and smoothing out Rei's disheveled, raven hair.

The action took Rei aback before she relaxed under the comfortable touch and replied, "I'm alive, but you already know that, since it's thanks to you."

Minako smiled widely, rolling her eyes before tugging on Rei's raven locks, "Why are you such a smart ass?"

A slim raven eyebrow rose at the blunt question, "I wasn't trying to be a smartass."

"But you do come across as one." the idol said, with a bright grin, something akin to mischief sparkling in her bright, cerulean eyes. "And anyway, I'm the one who should be thanking you. If it weren't for you and your blatant recklessness, none of us would even be alive right now."

The miko sighed and closed her eyes, leaning into the idol's touch as the blonde continued to caress her hair and said softly, near dozily, "I wouldn't call it recklessness. And while we're at it, you're the one who's reckless. I mean, I've been following you on the news. And being Sailor V on top of being an idol has got to be a taxing job."

"So you haven't forgotten?"

"No duh, Sherlock. Once I find out something like that, I'm not going to forget that easily."

Minako smacked the miko outside the head before standing and walking towards the bathroom.

"Ow." Rei brought up a hand to rub her head, wincing and immediately regretting to do so when she quickly dropped her arm to the bed. Ears twitching when hearing the brief sound of running water before it stopped, the miko turned, amethyst eyes taking in the idol's swaying hips as the blonde strolled gracefully from the bathroom to stand next to the miko. Rei looked up, blushing lightly at the smile Minako had playing on her lips.

"I wasn't looking!" the miko blurted, blushing heavier with wide, shocked amethyst eyes at what she said.

Minako's eyebrow rose, smirk widening as she said, "I didn't say you were, but it's nice to hear you admit that. Liked anything you saw?" she purred.

Rei's eyes widened even more, feeling mortified and feeling her entire heat up and flush a bright crimson.

"Maybe." she muttered before she could stop herself, and instantly paled, wanting instantly to curl up and hide in a hole.

A light, warm blush dusted across Minako's cheeks, but she never lost her smirk. Instead, it widened as she stepped closer, placing the small plastic cup on the smooth wooden surface of the table besides the miko's bed before leaning down and purring into the defenseless pyro's ear, "And what did you like?"

Rei froze. Her brain shut down, as she just lay there, amethyst eyes wide, and mouth hung open, causing the idol to draw back with great laughter shaking her slim form.

"You're too much pyro!" she laughed, plopping back ungracefully into the chair, and shaking her head, some golden tresses flowing down to caress her cheek.

Rei instantly snapped out of it, shaking her back and forth quickly before turning to give the still laughing idol a heated glare.

"What?" Minako asked, wiping her tearing up eyes and taking deep breaths to calm herself down, "You brought it upon yourself you know."

Rei's glare hardened, "Whatever. You didn't have to say that though. It's cruel and unusual punishment."

Minako shook her head, "Alright, alright." the idol turned and grabbed the plastic cup up off the rectangular wooden table and turned back to miko saying, "Open up, I went to get water for you."

Rei blinked, forgetting her glare and said bluntly, "Right. And you suppose that I'm going to let you drown me?"

The idol laughed, standing and scooting a hand behind Rei's back to help her sit up, "You actually think that this is enough water to drown you?"

Rei shrugged while sitting up, wincing a little in pain before saying, "Probably."

"Wow, you really need some help then." the idol said, bringing the glass to the reluctant miko's lips. "What now?"

"You didn't poison it did you?" Rei asked, scrutinizing the plastic cup held before her with a piercing gaze.

"Why would I want to hurt my beloved pyro-chan?"

Rei shrugged again, opening her mouth to say something, but was cut off by the blonde who dumped the water into her mouth and down her throat. Rei swallowed instinctively, but immediately began coughing, choking on her breath , and wincing in pain. Minako quickly yet carefully laid the miko back down, smoothing raven hair over as Rei rasped out, "What the heck was that for, blondie!!"

"You needed water." the blonde said simply, shrugging it off.

"No! No I didn't!" Rei coughed one last time before she stopped, and started taking deep breaths. All was silent until Rei spoke up again, "Why are you helping me? I mean, I'm just some stranger, and you're an idol. You must be very busy."

Minako's eyes softened, and glowed with a warm light as she watched the miko stare off at the ceiling. Taking a deep breath and relaxing back into the chair she said softly, "Because I care a lot for you. I care for you more than you know. And no matter what you say, or what my manager says, I'm going to try my best to stay by your side. I'm your friend Rei."

Rei looked at Minako in surprise for no one had ever said that to her. Ever.

"Minako."

Minako smiled warmly, taking Rei's hand in her own and giving it a comforting squeeze.

'_I promise to protect you always, Rei.' _

"Thank you." Rei said with a bright smile, squeezing the blonde's hand, reveling in the warmth of her touch and loving gaze.

"No prob, Raven." Minako winked.

Rei felt her eyebrows twitch at the name and huffed out, "Raven? Who said you could call me that?" Rei crossed her arms and returned to glare at the blonde, muttering under her breath, "Not that I don't like it or anything."

Minako arched an eyebrow, "If you don't like it than why don't you want me to call you that?"

"Because!" Rei shouted defiantly, "I'm supposed to be tough! And tough people don't have a list of childish nicknames!!"

Minako shook her head and thrust two fingers in front of the miko's face, "I wouldn't call pyro or raven, childish nicknames. And besides that, _two_ nicknames are sooooo not a list."

Rei glared at the mischievous blonde, her eyebrows twitching as she said, "Blondie."

"Pyro!"

"You used that one already. Ditz!"

Minako smirked before purring out, "Then how about Rei-puu?"

Rei flushed, but didn't protest, "Nymph!"

Minako gazed at her nails with a faux bored look on her face, "Emo-kid."

"Aphrodite!!!!"

Once the shouted word left the miko's lips, her amethys't eyes widened in complete and utter shock, her mouth agape, "Oh sh"

Minako's face flushed, but she coughed into her fist, composing herself quickly, and smiling at the shell shocked Rei mischievously, "Ne, Rei-puu, is that how you truly think about me? I'm. So. Honored." she taunted, wagging her eyebrows at the quickly flushing and squirming miko.

"It's not my fault that you're like a goddess!!" Rei exclaimed heatedly before slapping a hand to her forehead, and looking at the ceiling with a string of curses slipping almost silently past her lips.

The blonde next to her giggled, blushing prettily while saying with a tease, "You have quite the mouth on you. Must be the drugs."

"Yes." Rei groaned in embarrassment, "Let's just say that it's the drugs and leave it at that!"

Minako smiled brightly, "Alright, have it your way."

Rei turned her head to give Minako a blank look, replying instantly, "But we're not at Burger King."

"You're serious, aren't you?" Minako blinked.

"Dead serious."

"Wow, you must be on some gooood stuff, there pyro. What'd they give you and where can I get some?"

"Beats me, but I feel all giddy and tingly inside and I never feel like that. It's completely against the laws of nature. And even if I did know, I'd sure as heck would tell you where to get it, because you don't need any."

"I'm not sure if I should take that as a complement or not, but," Minako leant back, a grin claiming her lips and crossing her arms over her chest as she eyed the miko in amusement, "I told you that you were an emo kid."

Rei frowned, looking at the blonde with large shining puppy dog eyes and whimpering, "I'm not an emo kid."

Minako's heart leaped at the adorable sight, and it took everything she had not to squeal and squish the miko in a great bear hug. So she just smiled and said, "Right, and I'm not enrolling into your school."

Rei nodded her head, with sad tinted puppy dog eyes, "And you're not."

Minako laughed, running her hand through silky, raven hair, "Actually pyro, I am."

This shocked the miko into silence for a few moments before a large grin pulling up her lips, and a blush painting her cheeks, "You are?"

Minako nodded, "You bet."

"You're not pulling my leg now are you?"

"Now why would I do that?"

"Because you're a blonde."

Minako gasped, bringing her unoccupied hand to lay across her forehead as she pretended to be hurt by the statement, "Being blonde has nothing to do with that whatsoever."

"On the contrary, it does… well at least in my world anyway."

"Then what a twisted world that is."

Rei yawned, widely, snuggling down in content as the idol ran her long fingers through her hair, trailing her nails against her scalp, and said sleepily, "Oh, you can't even begin to imagine my world."

Minako smiled tenderly, gazing in absolute adoration at the miko and replying softly, "Well, I'd like to try to understand it. And to learn more about you."

A comforting silence followed, and for a moment Minako thought that Rei had dozed off by the deep breathing coming from the miko, but by a surprising movement, the idol could only gape as the miko grasped her hand in her own supple, warm one and brought it to place over her evenly beating heart, whispering, "You've already marked your spot."

It took a few moments, but soon Minako snapped out of it and gazed lovingly at the now dozing miko, running her hand over Rei's face and whispering with equal softness, "And you've already claimed mine."

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A/N: I'm sorry for taking so long to update this, but I've had trouble and a lot of work for school. Anyway, thank you to those who reviewed the last chapter, I really appreciate it. It's so motivational. Oh, and in the next chapter, Minako will have a run in with the other scouts, that I guarantee. Hope you enjoyed it and laters.


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I do not own Sailor Moon.

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Chapter 7

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The night was young, and the air was cool and crisp. Minako ran, jumping the rooftops of the various buildings in the busy city to get to her destination easier and without anyone noticing her. At the time she was donned in her sailor senshi outfit, pausing for a moment on the tallest building, breathing heavily, and letting her cool, calculating, cerulean eyes dart around in an attempt to find what she was looking for. Her body suddenly became stiff, and her sharp ears twitched at the high pitched sound of an animalistic howl that pierced through the air. Without even thinking twice, the blonde singer began bounding from one building to another , hastening her paste in order to get there in time.

It was but a couple of minutes until she skidded to a halt on the roof a large, white building, watching the scene that was taking place in the large, circular area between a few other buildings, different roads and walkways spreading out between each of them with an intricate waterfall at the center of it all. Minako gasped as she peered down to see a twin headed leopard-like creature, its golden and rust orange fur with different sizes of black spots splashed all over bristling in anger as it snarled, showing its sharp set of pearly white fangs glinting in the bright light of the moon hanging in the dark canvas above. Minako looked as the twin headed beast got up on its hind legs, its sharp claws shooting forward and glinting menacingly as its neon green eyes glinted with hostility, a low growl rumbling in its thick throat as it lunged forward to attack its prey. Minako's eyes shifted and widened when landing on a small team of girls in the same outfit as she was wearing, yet different colors.

The girls were standing in a line, the one on the left was tall with long chestnut hair pulled up in a thick ponytail, and stunning, fierce emerald eyes. The uniform she had on was similar to Minako's except that the skirt, collar, choke collar, large bow, and cuffs at the end of the skin tight white gloves were a deep green, and the large bow tied at the back, and the jewel at the center of the large bow in the front were a smooth pink. Minako's eyes left the tall brunette and landed on the small girl on the far right of the group. The small girl had short, deep ocean blue hair and large, ice blue eyes. Minako noted that the uniform she was wearing was a mixture of dark blue and icy cool, light blue. Minako's analytic cerulean eyes left the blunette and traveled to the center to who she guessed was the leader of the small group. The one in the middle had twin, long flowing golden locks shooting down from twin golden balls of hear on either side of her head with matching round ruby jewels at the center of each and large, innocent, crystal blue eyes that were now wide in concern. Her outfit consisted of long red boots with two golden crescent moons near the top that reached her knees, and twin red bows. Her skirt was navy as was her collar. At the center of her front crimson ribbon, was an elegant red, heart shaped brooch with a golden crescent moon at the center.

'_So there's Jupiter, Mercury, and the one in the center must be the moon princess.._' Minako thought as she watched the three girls jump out of the way of the youma's vicious charge. '_I know I should help them, but I think it would be best if I see what they're capable of right now._'

Minako nodded slightly and squatted down, to get a better view of the battle. Artemis trotted up to her, jumping on top of the cemented ledge and sitting down to watch as well.

"Aren't you going to help them?" Artemis asked as he watched Jupiter jump over the youma and unleash an electric charged kick to the back of its head, sending it stumbling forward, but not falling.

Minako shrugged, "Eventually," she stated lightly, "but right now I want to see what they're capable of."

Artemis just nodded and looked on as the battle took a vicious turn when the leopard-like youma brought its huge, built arms, into the air, and gave a feral cry before smashing them into the ground, creating a ring of cracks around it, the small, and thick lines, running from the center of the ring, out towards the senshi and anything else around it, cracking open to reveal a pulsing fiery orange glow. The senshi tried to jump out the way or sprint from the encroaching cracks into the earth, but the ground trembled violently below them, causing them to lose their footing and fall to the ground. Minako's eyes widened as the ground below the leopard's large, black clawed feet began to glow the same orange as the light coming from the cracks, and watched as the youma rushed forward, towards the moon princess, its arm reached backwards with its pointed claws extracted and glinting. Minako noticed how the ground ceased to stop trembling as the youma barreled on forward, its neon- green eyes glinting with madness as the twin headed cat roared, scaring and paralyzing the long, golden pigtailed girl.

"Shit." Minako cursed under her breath with darkening cerulean eyes. The blonde stood up on the roof's cemented surface and brought her gloved hands in front of her, conjuring up her laminating, golden, heart-linked chain, and gripping it tightly while jumping off the building's tall roof. While still airborne, the idol swung the chain, successfully guiding it to circle around the youma's large, toned and furry ankles before yanking the chain back as hard as she could and forcing the leopard creature to trip and tumble to the ground, giving a surprised yelp. Once the youma's feet were off the ground and the orange hued glow ceased, the ground stopped trembling, and Minako landed easily and with grace on the pavement.

Minako narrowed her hardening cerulean eyes on the youma as the twin headed beast snarled and snapped its pearly white fangs at her while it picked itself up to the point that it was crouched down like an actual leopard on all fours, its silk fur bristling as its back hunched upward, ready to strike. The idol could hear a resounding chorus of gasps from the other senshi, but paid it no mind. Scowling lightly, the blonde jumped up and over the charging youma, twisting her body mid- air and firing two consecutive 'Crescent Beams', each of the golden beams hitting their target and exploding in a brilliant light. Minako landed on the pavement with a click of her heels, turning around swiftly to face the youma. Cerulean eyes narrowed as the youma growled deeply and darkly in its throat as shook its head, trying to shake its haze away.

The sounds of footsteps brought Minako snapping out of her thoughts though she never tore her calculating eyes away from the beast.

"Who are you?" came an awed, innocent voice.

Minako spared a glance to the right to see the long, golden blonde haired girl with large sparkling, crystal blue eyes. The girl reminded Minako of a child, the way she held both hands together, up in front of her chest, and the way stars seemed to shoot through her eyes as though she was so excited by Minako's mere presence. Relaxing her offensive stance, Minako stood up straight and turned to look at the other two who stood so closely and protectively behind the blonde, eyeing her with caution.

Minako ignored the looks and took a deep breath before giving a slight smile and saying, "I'm Sailor Venus, and I'm your ally."

Hearing the vicious growl from the large youma behind her, the idol's cerulean eyes narrowed and hardened as she turned around and materialized her long, golden chain in her pure gloved hands, and sinking into an offensive stance.

"I know you have other questions, but it would be better to finish this thing first before we talk." Minako stated sternly, a cold tone underlining her voice as the youma began to glow a bright orange hue.

A frigid shiver ran electrically, unconsciously throughout the blonde's very bones themselves as a warning to what Minako had a feeling would come. Narrowing her analytical cerulean eyes even more, the blonde steadied herself even more, not even flinching to the near overwhelming feel of the youma's power as it yowled into the dark canvas that was the deep, midnight sky.

"Get ready!" she ordered, switching to a defensive position when the youma glared right at her, snarling and hissing harshly, snapping and pawing at the ground before taking off in a bee line towards her.

Narrowing cerulean eyes Minako breathed in and out calmly trying to center herself and time her dodge, but finding it getting harder and harder with each passing second.

'_Just a little more._' she thought, watching the leopard like monster race towards, ever more closely '_Now!_'

Minako went to jump, finding herself painstakingly unable to, her limbs heavier than lead as she was paralyzed to the spot. With a harsh gasp, she looked down quickly, eyes widening as she saw small sharp, orange hued lines racing up her legs, seemingly pinning her to the ground and to the lines that suddenly surrounded the area like a glowing orange spider web, with the only one able to move being the youma.

'_Shit!!_' she thought, trying to move her legs once more in a futile attempt, not hearing the rev of a motor, nor seeing the crimson and raven colors of a speeding and oncoming street bike racing down the alley to her right and out of the web's deadly reach.

Looking up, Minako paled as the youma was above her, claws sharp and out stretched, gleaming and coming down upon her in one swift swing. Ignoring the panicked cries of the other senshi behind her, Minako clenched her eyes shut, only to open them back again in shock as the sleek, raven and crimson motorcycle flew off a small ramp like area off the end of the alley, and smashing into the youma from the side, breaking the binding web. Minako gasped, not able to do anything as the rider of the machine quickly jumped off, lunging for her, tackling her to the ground, and shielding her from any harm when the youma let loose a surprised howl, falling and tumbling to the ground a few feet before coming to a harsh stop. Minako cringed at the sound of metal scraping against cement, yet could not take her eyes off the rider who held her in such a familiar, warm, and protective embrace.

The rider, sporting a black leather jacket with flame designs dancing along the outside of the arms with the picture of a giant, elegant phoenix on the back and ragged jeans stood up slowly, carefully pulling Minako up along with them. Minako couldn't say anything as she stared at the helmet that had a shrouded visor, along with flame colored sides in the form of what looked like wings.

"You, okay?"

Minako's eyes widened in recognition to the familiar voice and instantly knew who it was despite it being muffled.

"Rei?" she asked in a whisper, not wanting the other senshi to hear. She took a step forward.

Rei smirked from under her helmet and said, "And who else would I be?"

"But how did you?" Minako implored with her questioning cerulean eyes.

Rei looked away before answering simply, "I felt you."

Golden eyebrows furrowed as the blonde frowned slightly at the answer, "Felt me?"

"Yeah, but now's not the time to talk about that right now." the raven said, gesturing towards the youma, "Don't you have to beat up that thing or something?"

Minako followed her gaze and nodded, "Yes, we do, but I want you to stay out of this."

"What?" Rei asked, stepping closer to the blonde, "No way, I'm not going let you face this thing without me."

Minako smiled warmly yet shook her head, grasping the raven's gloved hand in her own, "I'm not giving you a choice Rei. You're still not completely recovered, and I refuse to let you get injured any more than you have."

"But-"

Rei's retort was halted when the blonde placed a single finger to the helmet, shaking her head, "Not this time Rei. Please, I don't want to risk you getting hurt again. Please."

Rei's stiff posture relaxed, eyes softening at the pleading cerulean eyes, and nodded, "Alright." she said in resignation, "You win."

Minako beamed at the miko and hugged her tightly, whispering a thank you and letting the raven head toward the safety of the alley she came from before staring at the youma then the other senshi who gave her quizzical looks.

"Listen, we have no time to talk right now. We have to take out that youma before it does any more danger so hold any questions you have for after the fight." Minako turned back to the youma and took off in a sprint, calling out, "Mercury, use your bubbles to create a mist to blind it! Jupiter circle around it and attack.! Moon, get ready to finish it off once I give you the signal!"

Minako barked out the orders, her tone intimidating the others and not giving them room for any argument. Doing as she commanded a sudden field of bubbles surged forward, bursting and shrouding the area in thick fog, confusing the youma as it shook its head, growling and glancing around the area with sharp eyes, bracing itself for what may come.

Minako smirked, seeing the large dark silhouette of the youma and whispered 'Venus Love Me Chain' under her breath, sending the golden chain slithering inconspicuously low on the misted ground, wrapping itself around the surprised youma's legs. The blonde gave a sharp tug, sending the youma on its back and jumped high into the air, letting lose a barrage of crescent beams onto the beast.

Just then, Jupiter came forward, unleashing a powerful 'Sparkling Wide Pressure', sending thousands of crushing volts through its body, shocking it and causing a howl of pain to erupt from its throat.

"Now Sailor Moon!" Minako shouted as the fog began to quickly dissipate.

Sailor Moon nodded, already having her scepter out and ready to attack, she lowered the intricate scepter and aimed it at the youma, and said, "Because you have dared to hurt innocents and a great shoe store, in the name of the moon I shall punish you!!"

Minako sweat dropped, looking at the girl with disbelieving cerulean eyes, '_What the heck was that about?'_ the blonde looked across from where she stood to where the miko was, asking the same question with her eyes. The miko just smirked and shook her head, leaving it at that.

Minako pouted and turned to see what Sailor Moon was doing only for her eyebrows to hide under her bangs as the senshi began to twirl around a few times before stopping and beginning to draw out a large golden lined circle shouting, "Moon Healing," the odango blonde completed the circle, "Activation!!!"

Minako just stared blankly at the now kneeling youma who began to screech as large balls of light began to attack it, engulfing it in their blinding light, forcing Minako to shut her eyes until the light died down and all that was left was nothing but a pile of ash.

Looking up from the youma's ashes, Minako looked around to find the other senshis sighing in relief and running to each other with bright smiles on their faces, chatting excitedly and saying _'Great job!'_ and such. Minako blinked, not entirely believing what she saw, but just shook it off and went with it anyway. Turning to look back to Rei, the blonde mouthed,_ 'I'll be_ right there.' to the raven and headed towards the happy and relieved senshi.

Their chatter stopped when she neared them, and they all looked up at her, the odango blonde with a broad, excited grin, while the other two regarded her with a cautious smile.

"I have to say," Minako stated, placing a hand on her hip with a smile, "that was impressive."

Sailor Moon beamed brightly with wide, sparkling eyes causing Minako to hold back the urge to shake her head as she continued, "All of you are strong, but you need to get stronger. Especially if more youma like the one we just faced shows up."

She watched as Jupiter frowned, the tall brunette narrowing flashing emerald eyes as she said with offence and indignation lacing her tone, "Well excuse us! I didn't see you fairing any better than we were. Heck if it weren't for whoever the heck that is over there," she gestured to Rei with a flick of her hand, "Than you wouldn't be here right now!"

"I know," Minako smiled softly, ignoring the light scolding Mercury and Moon gave the angered brunette as she glanced back to eye the raven who seemed rather bored just standing against the alleyway with arms crossed over her chest.

"So, um, Venus," the odango blonde began barely above a shy whisper, "Who is that?"

Minako's smile grew, "Let's just say that's my guardian angel."

Turning back to the others, Minako stated simply, "Look it's really dark, and I have a feeling that you all have school tomorrow, so why don't we find a place outside of the battlefield to discuss things."

Sailor Moon's pure, bright smile could have lit the darkness that nearly enveloped them if it weren't for the tall, metal lampposts around them and clasped her hands together, giggling with and saying giddily, "Yeah! Let's meet up at the Crown tomorrow at 5:00!"

Minako opened her mouth to reply, only to be cut off by the other blonde again, "See you then!" she shouted and took off without looking back.

The senshi who were left sweat dropped. The tiny blunette haired girl turned warm, apologetic ocean blue eyes to Minako who just shrugged and waved off the unspoken apology as if it were nothing and said with a soft voice, "I'm sorry about my friend, but will you be available at that time?"

Minako nodded, "Yeah, I should be free at that time."

"Good, then do you know where it's at?" the short girl asked, "If not, I can give you directions to it."

Minako snuck a quick glance at rei, who was tapping her foot impatiently at the time and smiled warmly, "Thank you, but don't worry about that. I think I know where to go. The Crown, right?"

Mercury smiled and nodded, "Right, see you tomorrow then."

Minako nodded back, and they were going to go their own ways when Jupiter's voice stopped them.

"And how do we know we can trust you?" the brunette asked, mistrust lacing her voice.

Minako looked over her shoulder and smirked, "You don't."

Jupiter growled low in her throat, glaring at the frank blonde who just shrugged her shoulders. Mercury laid a warning hand on the brunette's arm, stopping her from doing anything rash.

"Whether or not you trust me is up to you. All I'm telling you right now is that I'm on your side. Now goodnight."

No one said anything as the blonde walked away.

______________________--

Rei growled, heaving her precious motorbike onto its wheels again, and scanned the machine for any damages, a scowl marring her pale face as her deep amethyst eyes zoned in intently on three long scratches that defaced her beautiful bike.

"Dang it!" she hissed, carefully brushing her gloved hand over the marks before hugging it and whimpering out, "I'm so sorry my baby!!"

A chuckle brought her attention from mourning over her bike and the raven looked up to see an amused blonde senshi grinning at her.

"What!?" Rei croaked out, blushing furiously at being caught acting the way she had.

Minako shook her head with a giggle, "Nothing, pyro, nothing."

The blonde walked closer to Rei and asked, "Can I get a lift? Or is your 'baby' to damaged to run?"

Rei's blush deepened at the mischievous smirk Minako gave her, not that the blonde could see it anyway, and said, "It can run, it's just has a few scratches."

Taking off, her helmet, and shaking her long, raven locks as it fell out her helmet and against her back, Rei sighed, and smirked at the dazed look in the blonde's misted cerulean eyes.

"What? Do you see something you like?" the raven purred, boldly leaning forward to brush her lips against the blonde's cheek until she reached her ear and whispered huskily, "Hey Aphrodite, am I that droolable? Cuz' I see a drip of it right there." Rei pulled back enough to look teasingly into dazed ceruleans and brought a gloved thumb up to caress the edge of the blonde's pink lips.

Minako gasped and snapped back, her face heating up and turning a multitude of different shades of red at one time. She opened and closed her mouth several times, trying to say something, yet no words would come out.

Rei laughed hard at the humiliated look on Minako's face, causing the blonde to scowl and slap at the raven haired girl.

"Come on." the blonde stated, putting the helmet on while Rei hopped on the slender machine, still laughing.

Mounting on the motorbike behind Rei and winding her arms around the miko's waist tightly, the blonde let her transformation fade as her head fell onto the raven's shoulder, sighing in content.

"You ready?" the miko asked quietly.

Minako hummed in response, closing her eyes and tightening her hold on Rei's waist.

"I'll take that as a yes." came the light response, "Alright then, you better hold on tight."

Minako snickered, she didn't have to open her eyes to see that Rei had a grin on her face and said to indulge the obvious attention seeking miko, "Why? Is your driving going to endanger my life or something?"

Rei grinned maniacally, revving up her machine before taking off, tires screeching down the alleyway, laughing when hearing Minako's surprised squeal.

________________

The raven and crimson painted motorbike made a few sharp turns before going down a desolate road slowly, coming to a smooth stop in front of a large fancy apartment building. Rei sat up straight, looking over her shoulder at the blonde who was still clutching her for dear life in an inescapable iron grip. Chuckling softly, Rei flicked the blonde's helmet to get her attention.

"Hey princess, you're home."

Minako's head jerked up, and with shaking hands she took off the intricate helmet, throwing it aside with a gasp before hastily getting off the motorbike on unsteady legs. Once off and a few steps away, the blonde dropped to her knees and began to kiss the ground, much to Rei's amusement.

"Oh thank you!!" she exclaimed, sitting back and laughing happily, "I'm on ground! Nice, unmoving ground!!"

Rei laughed, getting off the machine and swooping down to pick up her helmet and dusting it off before strolling towards the happy blonde.

"Glad to see that you're happy."

Minako paused mid-thank and looked over her shoulder with a light glare at the smirking miko, "I'm happy and lucky to be alive!!"

Standing up off the ground, and dusting off her designer jeans, the blonde stomped over to the smug miko and placed her hands on her hips, leaning towards the raven haired girl, "Where the heck did you get your driver's license!? A Cracker Jack box!?"

Rei's smirk grew, an unidentifiable glint sparkling in her warm amethyst eyes as she said, "Who said I had my license?" Minako's jaw dropped at this, "The only thing I have is my permit."

"What!?" Minako nearly screeched, causing Rei to flinch, "Are you insane! Driving without your license at this time of night is illegal! You could get into trouble!"

Rei shrugged, "That's if they can catch me, you know."

Minako sighed in exasperation, her posture slumping as she placed the back of her hand across her forehead and shook her head, "This is just great, my life was almost ended by psychotic and road raging pyro who can't drive."

Scowling, Rei rolled her eyes before saying indignantly, "Hey! Just because I made my teacher and the other students with me cry, freak out, and pray while driving with me, doesn't mean I can't drive."

Minako shook her head again, and smiled at the pout the miko was giving her saying, "Right." stepping closer to the miko, the blonde enveloped her in a warm embrace, burying her face into the miko's shoulder and said quietly, "Thanks for the ride and for saving me tonight, but how did you know I was there?"

The miko smiled at the other's curiosity, wrapping her toned arms protectively around the small blonde and said simply, "Like I said before: I felt you. I don't know how or why, but I felt the need to go to you pulling at me and it didn't go away."

Minako looked up at the miko and smiled, not wanting to ask any further since the miko herself seemed to be just as confused about it. Nodding, the blonde kissed the miko's cheek tenderly, causing the raven to blush, "I'm greatful to you for saving me, but promise me you won't do it again. I can't lose you, Rei." she whispered softy against the miko's ear before letting go of her and turning around to go to her apartment.

Stopping at the door, the blonde turned around and called back, "I'll see you tomorrow, right?"

Rei smiled brilliantly and nodded, "See you tomorrow." she put on her helmet and revved up her bike, "Goodnight, princess! I'll be picking you up tomorrow!"

Minako blushed, but smiled, winking and sending a kiss to the miko. Before she took off though, Rei looked towards Minako and shouted sternly, "I can't make any promises."

Sighing, Minako watched as Rei sped off towards her own home, shaking her head and turning around to enter her apartment, anticipating tomorrow. Meeting those other senshi in their real forms with the dangerous and horrendous chance that they could be rabid fans was one thing, but talking with a stubborn, thick headed raven haired miko and insisting that she stay away from the battles with the youma was another.

With a drawn out heavy sigh, Minako traveled through her large, dark appartment room and threw herself onto the comforting, cool silk sheets with no other intention than to sleep. Closing her eyes, Minako let one last thought pass through her mind.

'_Tomorrow was going to be heck._'

__________________________

A/N: Okay, I know this is a slow chapter, and I really wanted to add more, but it wasn't really working out right now. Anyway, hope you like it and I hope to update soon with a better chapter.


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: I do not own Sailor Moon

A/N: This chapter is mostly going to give a look into their time at school, as well as introducing Minako's nearly non-existing rival to win Rei over. And yes, the other senshi will be introduced to Minako and Rei too. And a BIG THANK YOU to those who reviewed, it means a lot.

Chapter 8

An irritated sigh escaped parted, lush lips as the blonde idol tapped her foot against the cement in front of her apartment, wondering where in the world a certain miko was and began to plan on getting the girl back while she smoothed down her already straight, gray uniform out of boredom. Hearing the faint sound of a certain motor, the blonde idol looked up from her spot and smiled as the sleek raven and crimson motorbike came into view. With a laugh, she stepped closer to the street and waved to the raven who was nearing.

Rei stopped in front of Minako, getting off and handing the blonde a neon blue, pink and purple helmet with an intricate picture of a butterfly sprayed on it before taking the school case the idol had in her grasp and strapping it to the bike next to hers. Minako gave a light thanks, putting on and strapping the helmet to her head and getting on the bike behind Rei, once again wrapping her arms around the miko.

"Morning."

Rei smiled and revved up her bike, "Morning. Ready for school?"

Minako snorted and rolled her eyes, "No, not even close."

Rei laughed, "I know what you mean, but too bad. We have to go anyway."

Without another word, the two took off down the street and towards their school with Minako squealing in surprise. It wasn't the first day the blonde went to the stuck up school, T.A., but it was the first day she went with Rei and her death machine of a motorbike.

T.A. private girl's school was an honest pain in the butt to Minako. Most all of the girls there were snobby, stuck up rich girls who were cruel to her beloved pyro, and always wanted the blonde's attention, trying to separate her from the miko. It's happened everyday this week, and has worked most of the time. So, while she's had to go Rei-less most of the day, she's had to suffer through boring classes and annoying teachers. Well, most of them anyway.

Rei pulled out of the bustling street and around a small building into a near-desolate parking area where only a sapphire blue car and a large silver truck sat near the back of the small building. Parking in between the two, Rei hopped off, helping Minako off, and unlatched their school cases from the side of her motorbike.

"So, where are we?" Minako asked, taking off her helmet and shaking her blonde hair, gazing at the back of the building with curiosity.

Rei smiled, taking her helmet off and latching it and Minako's securely onto the side of the bike.

"It's a small diner that I go to and help out a lot."

Minako raised her eyebrows and stared at the miko, "You work?"

Rei rolled her eyes and scoffed, picking up their school cases and tossing the idol's hers, "Duh! Unlike you, I have to do a lot to help keep the shrine up. I already told you that we have some financial issues."

Minako rolled her eyes and slapped Rei's arm lighty, "Yeah, and I keep on telling you to let me help you with that."

Rei scowled and shook her head, leaving the blonde behind to catch up as she jogged out of the desolate parking lot and down the sidewalk yelling back, "Like I'm gonna let you do that Minako, get real!"

Minako growled and ran after the miko, eventually catching up and staying at a steady pace by her side, "Oh, I _am_ real, Hino."

"Sure you are, and I'm Godzilla." she teased lightly, a smile tugging at her lips while she slowed her pace down to a walk as the gates of the large prestigious school were in view.

Minako huffed and crossed her arms over her chest, glaring playfully at the miko, "If that was supposed to be funny, it wasn't. Not even by a long shot."

Rei smirked and kept her voice quiet as the two entered the school, "Yeah, well unlike some people, I'm not born a comedian."

"What are you talking about?" Minako asked, looking at the miko questioningly with a tilt of her blonde head, "I don't consider myself to be a comedian."

Rei winked and said, "But Minako, darling, your hair color says different."

Before Minako could completely grasp what she said, Rei high tailed it out of there and ran to the school's front, glass doors.

"Hey!!" she shouted, chasing the giggling raven, "Do you have something against blondes!?"

Rei could only laugh, her only reply being a shake of her head as she entered the school, smiling as her shining amethyst eyes took in Minako's own warm and happy smile.

* * *

Minako had to use all her will power not transform into Sailor Venus and attack all the girls that surrounded her, giggling and talking and acting like they knew her all her life… which they didn't. The fact that they were pushing Rei around made it worse, and all she could do at the moment was give a huge, practiced smile and nod her head like a robot. A slim blonde eyebrow twitched when cerulean eyes caught amethyst watching her with nothing but amusement shining in them, as Rei took a seat in her desk, taking out a… was that a _butterfly _notebook and a fluffy orange pen? Minako shook her head, planning to get revenge on the miko later as she heard one of the most annoying, high pitched and stuck up voices ever, followed by the sight of the grand Prima Donna of them all entered the class with a toss of her long, curly emerald locks and her two lackeys following dedicatedly behind her. Worst part… she was heading straight towards Rei.

The entirety of Minako's presence became nothing but a dark and ominous cloud that everyone around her could easily see, making them back off from her desk silently with sweat drops. As if even the Prima Donna could sense the cold, threatening presence, she shivered slightly and turned around to face Minako with that gosh awful smirk on her pale, snobby features, her chocolate brown eyes flashing with some form of triumph that ticked Minako off even more as she made her way towards the oblivious raven.

"Why, hello there Rei." she greeted the raven, leaning ever so slowly onto her desk.

Rei jumped, gulped, and closed her eyes praying that it wasn't who she thought it was.

"Uh, I said hello Rei."

The miko shivered at the stuck up voice and opened one eye meekly, giving a shaky smile when she saw her worst nightmare sitting suggestively on top of her desk smirking, "Hi, Rieana." she said weakly.

'_This sucks._'

As though Minako could read her thoughts, though it was obvious that she didn't have to, the blonde stood from her desk abruptly, slamming her hands onto the desk's smooth surface and gaining everyone's attention. Cerulean caught begging amethysts as Rei looked to her with the barest of pouts. Taking in a deep breath, Minako plastered on a large smile and made her way towards the four, Rieana's two lackeys: one short girl around 4 foot 8 with stylish cropped, black hair and fierce pastel green eyes, and the other a tall girl around 6 ft stood in front of her, arms crossed and glowering.

"What do you want, Aino?" the tall girl asked, suddenly getting up in Minako's face.

"Yeah," the short one joined in, getting closer as well, "are you jealous that only our Rieana- sama can get that close to Hino?"

Minako continued to smile, it growing when a low growl was heard behind the two. Rieana and her two lackeys turned towards Rei, who calmly got to her feet, her eyes shrouded behind raven bangs and smooth voice coming out calmly with a threat in its undertone, "I believe you two morons have it wrong Rieana doesn't own me. Now I suggest you get away from Minako and take your leader with you before I pound you into the ground."

Gasps were heard when Rei's intense eyes were turned from Rieana to her two lackeys, boring into them with fierce fire shining in their depths. Gulping, the two did as she said, the green haired girl not even opening her mouth to say anything in fear of angering the miko any further. But, before they completely left, Rieana stopped, placing one hand on the door frame and looked back towards the scowling raven, "Make no mistake," she said without so much as a tremble in her voice, "You will become mine Rei."

Minako and Rei watched as she flipped her hair once more and strolled like a model out of the class, leaving it deathly silent as the other students turned their attention to see what Minako and the miko were going to do next.

"And to believe that we've just made the gossip list before class even had a chance to begin." Rei sighed, slumping down in her stiff, tan seat with a hidden pout.

Minako smiled and laughed, patting the miko on the back, "Well, you _did_ just scare off _Rieana- sama_." the blonde spat out the name with disgust.

Rei's eyebrow rose, a sly smile claiming her lips, "Could it be that _the_ Aino Minako is jealous?" she teased lightly, causing Minako to huff, roll her eyes and smack Rei's back playfully.

"Oh, yes." the blonde singer said sarcastically, bending over and hugging the miko's shoulders from behind, smiling as the miko blushed and shuddered lightly under her touch. She spoke softly, "And if I see that green haired bimbo anywhere near you, someone's going to get hurt."

Rei snorted and rolled her eyes, but didn't protest against the warm hug, "Well, that someone better not be me."

Minako giggled, jumping away from Rei when the teacher walked into a surprisingly quiet classroom, and tossing back an, "I like your notebook by the way." before heading gracefully towards her desk.

As the lecture began with Minako paying more attention to the back of Rei's head than the teacher, she smiled widely when hearing the barely suppressed whispers being traded with notes around the classroom.

'_Today's going to be a great day._'

Rei ran like a bat out of hell out her classroom and to her secret place behind the schools luscious and beautiful garden growing at the back of the gym. The raven now sat Indian styled on the soft grass, sighing softly and gratefully at the sun whose warm, bright light embraced her and calmed her shot nerves down. She could barely stand how many rumors were going around the school about her, Minako, and Rieana; one being how she cheated on the bratty green haired girl for Minako. It was ridiculous!

"If I hear one more person say anything like that again, I'll tear them apart." Rei muttered softly, opening her neatly wrapped bento box to begin eating its nicely organized contents. The miko was completely unaware of the blonde who was walking right up to her.

"Are you sure you could live with that, pyro?"

Rei jumped, but instantly calmed down when she saw that it was only Minako, "Oh, it's you."

Minako pouted, plopping down right next to the miko, "What kind of greeting is that?"

Rei smirked, "One you get for surprising me after a long first half of the day."

Minako smiled and laughed lightly, "That's true." the blonde said, taking her Sailor Venus cloth off her bento box and opening it. "So you've heard all the rumors too, huh?"

Rei sighed, stuffing a piece of a sweet egg into her mouth, "Yeah, and it's annoying. You'd think that they would have something better to do."

Minako laughed and slapped the miko's arm playfully, "You mean like taking notes?" she asked laughing harder at the miko's adorably stern pout, "This is school, Rei. There _is_ nothing better to do."

"And you wonder why you can't understand any of your homework."

Minako smiled brightly, chomping a rice ball before saying, "Yeah, well that's why I have you, pyro."

Rei snorted, finishing off her lunch before closing the black box and placing it off to the side, "To be your homework slave."

"Exactly," Minako retorted, finishing her meal off as well, "And you're why I'll never have bad grades in class again."

Rei rolled her eyes shining with amusement, feeling completely at ease as she always had with the playful blonde, "Yeah, but you're forgetting about tests. Homework doesn't do much compared to those."

Minako shrugged, "And that is why it's besides the point I'm trying to make."

"That I'm your slave." Rei asked with an innocent tilt to her head.

Minako winked, grinning widely and carefree, "Exactly."

So far, lunch was the only thing that Minako liked that day and she had a feeling that Rei would agree completely since she was trudging towards the blonde now, eyes narrowed and lips scowling as she fumed and forced her way towards the singer, not caring who she pushed over in the process.

"Lets go."

Not even a word of hello, but Minako was alright with that, especially since she was ready to get out of this tiresome school too and followed the raven out of the school's gates.

"I'm surprised you didn't burn the place down with the look you had on your face." Minako teased, playfully nudging the still fuming raven.

Smiling wryly Rei looked over to Minako and scratched absently at her cheek, "I am too. Rieana wouldn't get off my back the whole last hour."

Minako twitched at the name and Rei grinned at the menacing look that took over the blonde's face.

"She didn't touch you did she?" the blonde asked in a deathly calm tone.

Rei smirked, "Don't worry, she wasn't stupid enough to mess with me." she reached up and mussed up Minako's long, silk blonde hair, loving how soft it was, "Have I ever told you how shiny your hair is?"

Minako looked at her with a raised brow, "And what brought on this subject?"

Rei shrugged, turning into the now crowded parking lot at the back of the small diner and strolled to her street bike, grabbing Minako's school case and tying it along with hers to the side.

"Here," Rei said, tossing Minako's helmet to her, "We have to go to the Crown, right?"

Minako fumbled with the helmet, nearly falling over when trying to catch it. When she did, Rei laughed and Minako scowled, straightening herself with a huff and crossing her arms, "That wasn't funny Rei."

Rei laughed again, "Yeah it was, you almost fell on your butt."

With a roll of the eyes, Minako shook her head, "You're so childish."

"Like you aren't?" Rei scoffed with a grin, standing up from her bike and dusting her skirt off.

"I'm more mature than you and anyway, shouldn't we change before going to meet the others?"

Rei tapped her chin, "Yeah, well did you bring any extra clothes?"

Minako walked up to Rei and smacked her on the side of the head, "Rei, the meeting's at five and its only 3:30, so we've got time."

Rei grumbled, rubbing her head while glaring at the blonde, "Yeah, well… you know what, never mind. You want to change at my house or your house?"

Minako opened her mouth to answer, but…

"Never mind, we're going to your house." Rei fastened her helmet on and slung herself onto the motor cycle, gesturing for Minako to hurry up.

Minako shook her head, putting her helmet on tightly before hopping onto the back of the small vehicle, winding her arms like snakes tightly around the miko's waist. Leaning her chin on the miko's shoulder she told the raven she was ready. Rei smirked deviously, revving the engine and shooting out the parking lot and into the momentarily clear street like a bullet with an unprepared Minako screeching like a siren and the raven laughing a bit maniacally in enjoyment and amusement.

* * *

A couple of hours later, the miko and pop singer arrived safely much to the blonde's relief. Getting off, Rei turned and helped Minako off and steadied the blonde as she wobbled on shaky legs. The blonde wore a short, orange skirt, a white, long sleeved, form fitting white shirt with a knot tied to the right side, and an bright orange vest with tan fur lining the front of the hood that was hooked by two black snaps at the collar bone. A pair of orange high heels that rose up a good 3 inches completed her look.

"Tell me again why I'm even risking my life riding with you?" she rasped out, causing Rei to laugh and let go of the blonde's wrist to take off her helmet.

"No!" Minako shouted, stopping the raven from completely taking it off.

Rei tilted her head to the side in confusion, but slid the helmet back on anyway, "Why can't I take it off?"

Minako smiled, "Because I don't want them to know who you are."

Rei frowned and placed her hands on her hips, "Then why'd you drag me to your house to change clothes? Wouldn't it be better if I were to…you know, go somewhere else?"

Smacking the raven's shoulder lightly and getting a falsetto whimper of pain, Minako smirked roguishly, "One, you're the one who dragged _me _to my house. And two, I want my brave knight in sexy clothing to come with me." she purred the last part and winked, instantly flustering the miko as she gaped behind the helmet, trying to stutter something out while looking down at her outfit.

Rei wore slim, form fitting light jeans with a pattern of darker blue and light purple butterflies a stitched path to the bottom of the fabric on the outside of each leg. A sleeveless violet shirt clung to her, cutting off righ above her bellybutton and showing of her curves nicely while a light, half jean jacket with a large mellow colored butterfly spread its wings on the back. A pair of brown converse adorned her feet.

"Anyway, you know you like it." the idol said.

"I-"

"Though I still wonder sometimes." Minako said, crossing her arms.

"What?" Rei asked, looking up from herself, her voice slightly muffled by the helmet.

"If you like butterflies so much, why did you give me the butterfly helmet?"

Rei flinched and Minako smiled, laughing, "Before you go and say something as predictable as 'How did you know?' and other nonsense, it's easy. You have a few butterfly notebooks, your bento box cloth has a bunch of butterflies on it, and I've seen you doodle them on your notes when your bored in first hour."

Fidgeting, the miko twirled a strand of long, silk raven hair around her finger, shifting her feet and looking anywhere but the blonde singer, "Yeah, well I think they're…cute, and you remind me of them."

A slim blonde eyebrow rose behind the helmet, "I would be blushing now, but you so just killed the moment. _I_ remind you of _them_?"

Rei jumped when Minako was just inches in front of her and waved her hands frantically, "It's still a complement!! If you think about it, it means the same thing no matter how you say it!"

Minako paused to think for a moment then nodded, "You're right. It does."

"See!"

Waving her hand in a nonchalant way, Minako grabbed the miko's wrist and dragged her into the Crown, "Fine, let's go because we're about to be late."

Rei shook her head, "Minako, it's 5:30, of course we're late."

Minako smirked and chuckled, "No, pyro that's what you call fashionably late."

Rei sighed, "Same thing."

"Whatever."

The two walked up to the counter where the tall sandy blonde haired man looked at them with cautious curiosity, "Hi…" he said uneasily.

Minako beamed behind her helmet and chirped, "Hi there! My companion and I are here to meet a few friends of ours! We don't know there names, but they said they booked a room here!"

The man watched Rei smack her helmet, cursing under her breath and shaking her head grumbling, "Oh, we aren't suspicious at all. Way to go blondie, I thought you knew their names."

The butterfly helmeted girl turned around and rubbed the back of the helmet laughing shakily, "Yeah, well I forgot."

"How could you forget?! Isn't this supposed to be something serious?" Rei barked out, placing her hands on her hips and towering over the pop singer.

"Maybe." she squeaked.

"I'm gonna kill you." the raven deadpanned.

The man behind the counter gulped and rose a shaky hand stating in a quivering voice, "You two aren't robbers or anything are you?"

The two bickering teens stopped and Minako turned around with clasped hands in front of her chest, "Why of _course_ not mister!!"

Rei shook her head and face palmed again, "You're not going to convince him that way you dork."

Minako huffed and leered at the miko, "Oh and like you're helping with what you're saying!"

Rei just stared at Minako, placing a hand on her hip in annoyance, "Have you _listened_ to yourself?!"

The short, neatly cut sandy haired blonde silently made his way to the phone to dial the police when something caught his eye. A short, blonde haired girl with twin, long pigtails spiraled from two round balls of hair on top of her head strolled from the hallway where the karaoke rooms were. Her baby blue eyes sparkled brightly, as she caught sight of the two bickering teens and instantly ran to them, jumping the two unsuspecting girls in a hug, tackling them down to the ground.

"What the heck!?" the one with the phoenix helmet shouted, flinching and trying desperately to claw her way out of her attacker's grasp.

Minako squeaked, shocked and deathly afraid that the blonde that tackled her recognized her and suddenly felt herself become petrified.

"I knew it was you two!!" she shouted gleefully, squeezing them one last time before jumping up and away from them.

"Wh-what?" Rei asked, gasping for breath as she stood up, dusting off her outfit before dragging the petrified Minako up.

The girl smiled like the sun, clasping her hands behind her back as she rocked back and forth on the balls of her feet, "I saw your helmet and recognized it from last night!"

Rei could feel time freeze as she gaped and Minako gaped at the girl in front of them.

Clearing her throat and taking a deep breath, Minako asked cautiously, "Then you're?"

"Tsukino, Usagi." she said with something akin to an impish grin, "Nice to meet ya!"

Minako and Rei slowly followed Usagi in a sort of daze, making sure they were a couple of feet behind her to whisper amongst themselves.

"There's no way." Minako said, blinking and turning to the silent raven besides her, "Pinch me."

Rei glanced at Minako with a hidden raised eyebrow, "Do you really want me to do that?"

Minako thought went silent in thought before answering, "Never mind, you'd really hurt me if you got the chance."

"Hey!" the miko retorted in a hoarse whisper, "I am _so_ not the abuser in this relationship!"

Minako chuckled, "So we're in a relationship huh? I guess the rumors at school are true then."

Rei became flustered, "We're friends Minako." she said, fidgeting a little before looking away from Minako and snorting, "And which rumors, there are a ton of them going around."

Minako giggled with a smile and nodded, "I know." she turned her attention to the blonde in front of them turning to the door at the right end of the long hallway, opening it and waving for them to come in.

Minako nodded, waving her hand in a gesture to tell the blonde that they would be right there. Usagi nodded, smiled and entered the room, the bluish door closing behind her with a click.

"I still can't believe she's Sailor Moon."

Rei snorted again, crossing her arms over her chest while looking at the pop singer, "It shouldn't be that much of a surprise."

Minako raised her eyebrows, "And why not?"

Rei smirked, though Minako couldn't see it, her amethyst eyes flashing in amusement, "Because, if you look at her and think about how Sailor Moon looks and acts then compare it to the blonde right there it's obvious. I can't believe you of all people wouldn't notice that." she said with a shrug, "Then again, you are a bit of an airhead."

Minako smacked Rei's arm, "Shut up. It's all your fault you know."

Rei tilted her head to the side and pointed to herself in a sign of confusion.

Minako grinned, shaking her head, "As adorable as it is, don't play innocent." she walked to the door, leaving the miko to follow her. Hand gripping the cool steel of the round doorknob, Minako turned back and said, "You're the only one that brings the airhead out in me."

Rei crossed her arms once more, "And abuser." she laughed.

The miko let out a yelp when the blonde smacked her arm again.

* * *

Entering the room, the two were surprised that they had a stairwell. Walking to the edge, side by side, the two looked down to see a round table with five chairs, each a different color: red, orange, green, blue, and pink. On either side of the room there were two long, black leather couches and in front was a semi-large stage with lights above and a big karaoke machine to the side. On the stage was a microphone stand and off to the side, near the karaoke machine but on a taller, wooden stand sat a large plasma TV. Minako looked around again and saw two other girls sitting around the table with an excited and bouncy Usagi in between them. The blonde gulped when the two stopped chatting with the odango haired girl and turned to look up at them, one with suspicious, cautious emerald eyes and the other with curious yet cautious ice blue eyes.

Rei nudged the idol, gesturing her to go first, "Ladies first." she said with a mocking bow.

Minako rolled her eyes and began her decent, the miko on her heels, standing behind her protectively when they reached the bottom. There was an awkward few moments of silence before anyone had an idea of what to say.

"So…" the emerald eyed girl with her long brunette hair pulled in a high pony tail said warily, "Who the heck are you guys?"

Minako smirked behind her helmet, loving how all eyes were on her and Rei…but mostly her and slowly took off her helmet. Mouths dropped open, and amethyst eyes rolled as the blonde pop singer shook her long, golden tresses out and smiled smugly with shining cerulean eyes.

"I'm Aino Minako, and this wonderfully dark shadow standing behind me is my guardian angel."

* * *

_A/N: Rei does like butterflies. A lot. _

_And I know. It's slow, and I'm sorry. This story has been giving me issues and I promise to sort them out, but I will need time. So please be patient so I can give you all something to read that won't be too slow, and will be better flowing. Thank you all for reading, and let me know what you think. Laters. _


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: I do not own Sailor Moon

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Secluded Flame

Chapter 9

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Amethyst eyes flashed like lightning in the darkest of skies and narrowed a low growl rumbling from deep within her throat as fists tightened before launching into a swift succession of sharp jabs. Each connecting and denting the large red leather punching bag, sending deep shocks that rocked it, the chains holding it a couple of feet above the ground shaking and rattling noisily. Needless to say, Rei was ticked.

A powerful kick to the center followed by another machine gun like fire of punches before another kick was done nearly in a blink of the eye, all around her in the large gym watching in awe, yet not stupid enough to say anything to her because of the dangerous dark aura that surrounded her. Her body fell into the rhythm of kicks and punches comfortably as Rei's mind raced and ravaged through the not so pleasant events that occurred the past few days.

?

_Rei tried so hard to resist the laughter that was bubbling up in her as the three girls in front of them stared like deer caught in an eighteen wheeler's headlights. It was priceless and the miko could tell without looking at the idol that she was enjoying the three shell shocked teens expressions as their minds tried to wrap around who was before them._

_'Dang, this is pretty pathetic.' Rei thought shaking her head, the tall brunette's voice reining her from her thoughts._

_"You-you are __**the**__ Aino Minako!" _

_Rei felt her hackles rise in a mixture of annoyance and anger, and possibly… jealousy? as the idol smiled that sweet smile of hers at the now lightly blushing shocked, emerald eyed brunette. Rei crossed her arms over her chest, and growled predatorily, shocking both Minako and herself as she stepped closer to the idol._

_'The heck was-'_

_"A bit protective, aren't you?" _

_Rei could hear the amusement caking the blonde's melodious voice as she felt the warmth of the idol's radiant smile._

_Rei felt her lips tug into a smirk behind her helmet and teased the idol in a low voice, "Don't want your overzealous groupies here to maul your pretty face."_

_Rei glanced back as a light pink dusted across creamy cheeks while cerulean eyes sparkled happily._

_"Glad you think so, pyro." _

?/

Harsh gravity tugged the miko's lips into a scowl in remembering the last time the two were able to talk that night since the odango headed blonde's seemingly very thick head was finally able to get the fact that Minako was in her presence. Rei winced, a hand unconsciously going to touch her ear in remembrance of the ear splitting screech the kid released before she jumped Minako, making sure to take her down with them.

Rei shook her head, rolling her left arm lightly, scoffing, "They didn't even talk about those stupid monsters. All they did was freaking fawn over Minako and sing Karaoke!"

Rei launched into succession of kicks, growling between gritted teeth, "And now that blonde's avoiding me like the plague! Darn her!"

The raven stopped, standing straight and stretching, her breathing deep and quick like her heartbeat, "I guess it was bound to happen eventually," Rei whispered faintly, "After all, she has the world in the palm of her hand, and she can practically have anyone she wants."

Amethyst eyes glinted sadly, gazing distantly as she stared at the floor below, her breathing evening out, her tense body relaxing as a picture of the blonde idol appeared in her mind.

"Oh well, I-,"

Rei's train of thought and self-pitying was interrupted when something landed on her sodden head, followed by a large heavy hand, causing her to tense, jump, and snap her head to see a tall, toned body besides her.

"Markus?" Rei asked, still in shock.

Markus grinned, rubbing the towel on her hair, "Hey kid," he said, "are you o.k., because you look like you lost your pet cat or something."

Rei relaxed at the sound of his smooth voice and rolled her eyes when his deep chocolate eyes shone with concern, "Don't worry about me," she dismissed, moving his hand off her head, but taking the white cotton towel to dab the sweat off her lightly flushed face, "I'm all right."

Markus shook his head, sighing past his grin and running a hand through his mussed up, short rust red and orange hair, "Right, and that's why you're pounding the crap out of an inanimate object," he teased.

Rei's lips twitched into a smile as she pushed him playfully, "Hey, you're the one who advised me to do this whenever I'm frustrated."

"Did not," the older man defended himself, playfully pushing her back, "I just said that it's a great stress reliever."

Amethyst eyes rolled and Rei smirked, her mood a hundred times better now that Markus was there, "Whatever, you should just be happy that I actually took your advice for once."

Markus chuckled, shaking his head, "True, and if you'd listen to me more, I think I'd be generous enough to buy you a gift."

Rei shook her head, mock punching him in the arm, "You better get me a gift, my birthday's almost here, you know."

"I know," Marukus said, turning around and gesturing the miko to follow with a wave of his hand, "and I'll get you something special, I promise."

Rei followed, her thought stopping for a moment as she looked at what he was wearing, "Markus..."

"Yeah?" he asked, as they passed an array of workout machines and people using them.

"What are you wearing?"

The pair stopped by the far wall of the gym where it was lined with a row of drink and snack machines with healthy items in them while sturdy, white plastic benches sat a few feet in front of them. Rei leaned against the pastel colored wall while markus slipped in a couple of dollars into a drink machine, pressing a square, yellow glowing button and tossing a refreshingly cold bottle of water to her when it tumbled down. He then leaned down to pick up an orange Gatorade for himself, opening it to take a swig before turning to Rei who was just staring at her water.

"Thanks for the water," she said, opening it and gulping some of it down, sighing in content as the frigid water eased down her throat.

"You're welcome," he smiled.

Rei grinned back then looked him over with a shake of her head, "Didn't I tell you that tights don't suit you?" she wiped at her face before wrapping it around her neck.

Markus looked down at himself, blinking. He wore a white body shirt that showed off the outline of his chest and abs, tight black pants with silver lines running down the outside of each leg, and black puma sneakers with a yellow and green designs. Crossing his arms, Markus huffed in mock annoyance, "I don't care what you say, I happen to like these pants thank you very much!"

"Whatever," Rei said, chugging back more water before closing it and tossing it to Markus, "Can you put that with your stuff?"

Markus shrugged, "I don't know, can I?"

Rei blushed and glared at the fire haired man, "You're a jerk you know that."

Chuckling, he replied, "Hey, anything to teach you some manners."

Flipping raven hair back with an aggravated sigh, Rei grinned and said, "Fine. May you put my bottle with your stuff?"

Markus shook his head and tossed it back to Rei, "Sorry, but I can't kiddo."

"Why not?" Rei pouted.

"Because," he said, wrapping an arm around the raven's shoulders, "You're going to need it after we spar."

Rei grinned and shook her head, but took the lead and walked towards the large boxing ring on the other side of the gym, "Alright, what's going on through that head of yours, Markus?"

"I just want to get you out of whatever funk you're in is all," he said seriously.

Rei's grin fell and she glanced at the man from the corner of her eye, sighing, "There's nothing wrong."

Markus shook his head, going by the side of the empty ring, placing his bottle on top of the short steel stairs, and rolling under the red rope to get into it, "That's what you say now, but how I saw you a bit ago is another story."

Rei didn't speak as she got in on the other side of the rather large ring after putting her water down.

Shifting from one foot to the other, while practicing his jabbing, Markus said, "Would Aino Minako have anything to do with this?"

Rei glared at the man and got into an attacking position, "Leave that blonde bimbo out of it and come on."

With a carefree grin, Markus charged forward, knowing he hit a sore spot.

?

Aino Minako sneezed softly, rubbing her nose in wonder.

"Oh, are you o.k. Minako?" Usagi asked, her large crystal blue eyes sparkling.

Minako smiled her bright smile, fixing her large baseball cap and replied with a shake of a hand, "I'm fine," she laughed, "it's nothing."

_'I have a feeling someone was talking about me,' _she said in her head with a small frown.

"Are you sure?"

Minako looked through her thick designer sunglasses to her left and smiled at the concerned tall brunette beside her, "Don't worry about it, Makoto, I'm fine." She looked away, towards the crowds of people walking back and forth down the paved sidewalk through her large sunglasses, "I just have a bit on my mind is all."

Makoto nodded, but didn't look convinced.

"You know you can come to us, if you need someone to talk to," Usagi chirped, hugging the distant idol and dragging her back from wherever her mind had gone.

"Thanks," Minako laughed, "I'll keep that in mind," she smiled warmly.

"Anyway," the odango blonde continued, letting the idol go after she had patted her back in reassurance, "What happened to your 'guardian angel'?"

Minako flinched ever so lightly, with no one but Makoto's experienced emerald eyes catching the tiny movement, and plastered a fake smile on her lips, "She's around," was the soft answer.

Usagi nodded, oblivious to Minako's barely concealed sadness and said, "Well, why don't you bring her along next time?"

Minako held back the urge to flinch again and just kept grinning, replying with a carefree wave of her hand and forced chuckle, "Sorry, but, my guardian angel has been busy. She won't be able to hang out with us or anything."

Usagi pouted, opening her mouth to say something when a familiar and unwanted snide voice cut through first.

"Well, look who we have here," came a silky voice, "I didn't know you had so many… _friends_."

Minako winced and put on a falsetto friendly smile, though her flashing cerulean eyes told a different story, "Why hello there, Rieana. It's nice to run see you."

Rieana flicked a luscious curl of emerald hair back and grinned sarcastically, "Yes it is," her chocolate brown eyes swept over the blonde's companions and Minako could promise she saw the girl frown for a split second before she smirked, "I see Rei isn't here with you."

Minako scoffed, suddenly feeling two pairs of curious eyes on her back, "Of course not, and you should know why. Afterall," she said with a cross of her arms over her chest, "you are one of the gossip queens of the school."

Rieana locked cerulean eyes in a heated stare and said in a hard tone, "Sorry, but all I know is that Rei came back all moody and darker than she has been in a long while since, I hate to admit it, you came here. No one knows what happened between you two, just that you've been ignoring her ever since that day."

Walking past Minako, Rieana hissed at the blonde goddess of love, "You better not have hurt her," chocolate orbs glanced into steely cerulean, flashing a warning before leaving the now troubled blonde behind, "because make no mistake it will come back and bite you in the butt."

Minako stood stone still, fists clenched and shaking, and her eyes downcast and shrouded to keep anyone from reading her emotions.

**?**

Rei sighed, and collapsed to the fairly soft mat with legs stretched out front and arms straight behind her, holding her upright while she caught her breath. Wiping the sheen of sweat draping her forehead, she looked at Markus with a grin while he lay sprawled out on the other side of the ring, his damp rust red and orange hair clinging to his forehead like a life line.

"Man," he wheezed out, "you…approved a…lot!"

Rei chuckled deep in her throat and shook her head, before coming down from the adrenaline high and taking a deep breath, letting it wisp past her lips when she finally sobered, "Thanks Markus."

Markus craned his head up, an eyebrow cocked and chocolate eyes shining with warmth, "Don't mention it Rei," he began, sensing the sudden mood change and instantly adjusting to it, "Would you like to talk about what's wrong now?"

Rei thought for a moment then shook her head, "No. This is something I have to work out on my own," the raven sat up straighter, no longer leaning on her arms, and crossed her legs in front of her indian style.

The autumn haired man nodded, slowly pushing himself up while concerned eyes gazed at the raven, "You know you can talk to me about mostly anything, I'm here for you, you know?"

Rei nodded, looking down at the ring's mat, watching as a few beads of sweat dripped onto its creamy surface, "I know."

Eyes softening, Markus sighed softly and ran a hand through his lightly sodden hair, "Well, since we're done sparring, why don't we pack up and go get some lunch. My treat."

Amethyst eyes looked up, regarding the man's obvious bribe and grinned lopsidedly, "Fine, but I choose the place."

Markus laughed, getting up with a stretch and trotting to one edge of the ring to retrieve his water bottle and get out, "Then hurry up because we haven't got all day and I'm starved!"

Rei shook her head at his good natured whine and jumped up, grabbing her water bottle before slipping out of the ring to jog past Markus, giving him a playful push, "I'll race you."

Markus grinned, watching the raven take off before jogging after her, thinking, '_At least she seems to be getting back to her normal self._'

**?**

Rei stretched with a barely contained yawn, slumping forward with one leg crossed over the other and her arms resting by her sides, hands gripping the back of the plastic bench waiting for Markus to get out of the men's changing room. Her eyes glazed over, her mind playing and replaying that weird meeting with those girls and the fight that happened the day after. A sad sigh slipped past lightly parted lips as she was so lost in her own troubles that she didn't notice when someone took a seat right next to her.

"Hey Rei, how are you doing?"

Rei flinched, jolting up and snapping her head to the right to see a head of emerald curls and unreadable, shining chocolate brown eyes.

"Rieana? What are you doing here?" Rei asked confused, her mind still trying to process that she was actually there.

Rieana smiled softly, "I'm here because I go to the gym every now and then. What about you? I've never seen you around here before."

Rei reclined back to her previous position slowly, replying simply, yet distantly, "I came here to work out and get something off my mind is all."

Rieana's smile turned sad, stating more than asking, "You came here to get Minako off your mind," chocolate eyes took in Rei's subtle flinch as the answer.

Looking further down, her raven bangs curtaining her eyes, Rei said coldly, "It's none of your business, Rieana."

The emerald haired girl sat silently, fiddling with the edge of her simple white blouse for a moment before saying silently, "I know it isn't my business, but…," she turned to look at Rei, carefully placing her hand on Rei's own and whispered, "I want to help you Rei."

Rei flinched, smacking Rieana's hand away from her own and shot to her feet, growling, "Don't touch me."

Rieana stared up at the raven in shock, her hand held in front of her, seemingly reaching out for Rei, "I'm sorry," she whispered, chocolate eyes looking down, "I didn't mean to…"

The sentence hung there, both teens looking away from one another. With a sigh, Rei straightened up and with a scowl and said, "Look, I don't know what your reason is, but I don't need anyone's help. Especially yours."

Chocolate orbs downcast, their owner's face a pure canvas when folding her hands together on her lap. Amethyst eyes glanced back and a sigh swept past plush lips with Rei saying, "Listen," Rieana looked up at Rei, bare traces of curiosity sparkling in her eyes, "I'm used to you acting so…" Rei rubbed the back of her head, "so nice, I guess."

Rieana brushed an emerald curl from her eyes and smiled softly, sadly, whispering so that only Rei could hear, "I know," she chuckled with regret dampening her silky voice, "I haven't been the nicest person to you, but you must know that that has never been how I've truly felt towards you."

Rei couldn't speak, not knowing what to see as soft chocolate orbs pierced her amethyst orbs.

"Hey Rei, ready to go?"

The raven jumped in surprise, tearing her eyes from Rieana's and turned to see Markus in his usual tan slacks, navy blue shirt tucked in them with a black belt strung around his waist and a tan jacket thrown over one shoulder.

Rei hesitated for a moment, glancing quickly over her shoulder with a sigh before turning to the man with a silent nod, burying her hands in her pockets and walked away.

"Oh!" Markus exclaimed, causing Rei to stop and look at him questioningly, "Rieana," he looked to the sitting girl, "would you like to come with us for lunch?"

Amethyst eyes widened, looking at the man as though he lost it, "What are you doing?" she choked out.

Dark chocolate eyes stared into amethyst with finality as Markus turned to her with crossed arms, "Listen, I know you aren't really friends with her," he gestured to the emerald haired girl, "but I believe it's time for you to at least get to know her a little so you can get along better."

Rei glared with a scoff, looking away from the wise man and walking to the front of the gym, "Fine," she said, "but don't think I'm going to like it."

Markus smiled softly, shaking his head with a chuckle, "Alright kid," he turned to Rieana, "let's go before the phoenix over there leaves us behind."

?

A content sigh breezed past the blonde's lips after taking a long slip of her strawberry milkshake, "Wow, this is delicious," she said dreamily.

Usagi and Makoto giggled while Ami smiled politely, each of them either eating their lunch of drinking their drinks.

"I'm glad you like it, Minako-chan!" Usagi gushed, cheerfully devouring fries after dipping them in her chocolate shake.

Minako smiled, continuing to slurp on her shake as the others struck conversation with each other. Laughing at a joke, Minako's eyes traveled to the door of the Crown Parlor, eyes widening in shock, her shake lay forgotten as she stared into the stunned amethyst orbs of one of the customers who had just walked in. Her shock grew when the unwanted site of an emerald haired girl stepped by the raven's side, placing a hand on her elbow and whispering something in the raven's ear. Jealousy swept her heart in a ferocious storm, her fists clenching tightly on top of the table while her friend's chatter died down, all three looking at her in concern.

"Hey Minako," a light whisper broke through her trance while a light warmth weighted on her fist, "are you o.k.?"

Minako looked up into emerald eyes sparkling in concern, their owner frowning lightly with furrowed eyebrows.

Turning her fist over and clasping the hand in her own while smiling a soft, reassuring smile that cast crimson across the brunette's cheeks, the idol said, "Don't worry about me. I'm fine."

?

Rei stood in a stunned, suffocated silence. She couldn't believe her rotten luck. First Rieana showed up at the stupid gym, and then Markus invited her to lunch, now here she is in the restaurant of her choice when she suddenly spots a certain idol with her new _friends_ and _her_.

Rei shivered at the bare, feather touch of Rieana's hand on her elbow and the soft voice asking her what's wrong. She didn't answer. No, she couldn't answer, her mouth felt as though she stuffed it with cotton and her throat constricted. Stumbling back, Rei didn't know what to do; she could barely hear Markus's worried voice or his hand on her shoulder. All she could make out in this hazy world was her heart creaking as it broke under those indifferent cerulean eyes.

It was then, when she couldn't bring her misting eyes away from those eyes that touched her soul that she felt it. Dark, powerful, and suffocating she felt a fearsome power overwhelming her senses and snapping her out of her staring contest. Rei gasped for breath, turning and shaking off the hands and concerned voices that tried to hold her back and ran.

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A/N: Please don't review to harshly. I'm very sorry for the extremely late update, but I've had to better plan it out. Heck, I didn't even get to where I wanted to in this chapter because I got hit with another writer's block. I'll try to update sooner than I have, but things are going to get really busy for me soon. Sorry for the way it ended too, I'm still trying to become a better writer. Please bear with me. Anyway thanks for reading. I hope you like it. Laters.


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